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Does your contract deal with copyright? |
A non-exclusive licence to use copyright may be implied:
- from the conduct of the parties; or
- by law, to a particular class of contract; or
- if necessary, to give business efficacy to a particular arrangement.
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| A non-exclusive licence to use copyright may be implied by law where the contract does not deal with the issue of copyright. |
For example, where an architect is engaged for a fee to prepare plans for a building and the contract does not deal with copyright, there is an implied licence to the owner of the land that the plans may be used for the purpose of construction of the building. |
Purchasers of property should also be wary when buying a property with the intention to construct a building on the basis of plans that were prepared by the previous owner's architect. If the agreement between the architect and the previous owner specifies that the architect retains copyright in the plans, there will be no implied licence to use the plans, making it difficult to construct the building in accordance with the relevant approvals. |
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