Contractual agreement

Unless a copyright owner is the only person going to use his or her copyright work then contracts are likely to be agreed at some point about the copyright work. General law such as company law and competition law may govern what is acceptable in a contractual agreement. A copyright owner may wish to seek advice from a lawyer, perhaps one specialising in copyright and contract law, before proceeding.

Contractual agreements are likely to be important when a copyright owner:

• needs a partner to help exploit the copyright work;
• wishes to negotiate the sale or other transfer of the copyright;
• would like to agree a licence with someone else who wants to use the copyright work;
• would like someone else, such as a collecting society, to administer some or all of the economic rights.

In some cases it might be important to obtain an agreement/contract of confidentiality while negotiating copyright matters, especially if the work has not been published.