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Copyright Law Explained

What is Joint Copyright Ownership

A joint work is one in which a work is prepared by two or more creators with the intent that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole. Generally, for a contributor to qualify as a joint author the contributions of each contributor must be independently copyrightable. The authors of a joint work are co-owners of copyright in the work. Joint copyright owners share an equal interest in the copyright regardless of how much they contribute to the work. This gives all joint copyright owners the right to register as well as enforce the copyright.

Obtaining Sole Ownership of a Joint Work

If a joint copyright owner wants to acquire sole ownership of the work, they may do so through a contractual agreement with the other owners.

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