Licensing and Royalties
Copyright license agreements are from the most common licenses in many forms of creative work especially in the software industry. If you hold a copyright or hope to, you may need to form a licensing agreement to transfer such rights. With a licensing agreement, you elect the portion of your rights you wish to transfer. We can help you draft an agreement that protects your rights and meets other important requirements for you. Such agreements should be developed with a targeted legal strategy, including:
- Limitations of license
- Details of payment of royalties
- Rights and obligations of copyright owner and licensee
- Complete description of the work
- Grant of license detailing rights being transferred
For software, user must click “agree” prior to installation and the licensee owns the right to produce a limited number of copies (reproductions) for instance, to install on one or more computers. Another instance is a publishing agreement where an author grants a license to distribute and market a manuscript to a publisher. In any such example, the copyright owner transfers only a part of a right—and retains the remainder. A well-crafted agreement is crucial to both licensors and licensees in such situations to avoid potential miscommunication and future litigation. These clauses must be extremely precise. We have extensive experience developing contracts that convey copyrights while protecting our clients.
How We Win the Case
First, we analyze the infringement. If the work-in-question is substantially similar to your original, we must evidence that the alleged infringer could access your work of art to copy. Next, prove damages. We need to understand the extent of the infringer’s profit, so we can win back the fullest extent of damages. You might be entitled to enhanced damages and even attorneys fees, if your copyright is infringed. Some issues to be aware of:
- It may be challenging to find your infringer.
- Did you create the work while working for someone else whether as a contractor or employee?
A deep dive may be required to understand who is responsible.
One of the reasons our firm is so popular, is we always know how to get to the bottom of this.