Ownership Of Artwork and Intellectual Property
Full ownership and Copyright on all creative work ADS produces is always shared between the client and us.
This is because we retain the right to be recognised as the creators of the artwork, and the client gets the right to copy or right to reproduce the artwork for the purpose it was created.
For instance, in the case of logos, the client is entitled to use it on all of his products and merchandise, i.e.: websites; brochures; TV commercials, for as long as he is in business.
And from our side, no part of that logotype can be used for the creation of new artwork such as new logotypes for different businesses or/and entities because our client gets exclusive rights.
Copyright is part of Intellectual Property or IP because it results from a person’s creativity and thoughts.
The owner of the copyright is generally the author, and the author is generally the first person who gave life to a piece of art, music any creative production really!
According to the Australian Copyright Council, a design is automatically protected by copyright, if it is:
•An artistic work as defined in the Copyright Act;
• The result of some skill and effort, and not merely copied from somewhere else;
• Fixed or captured for example, on paper or on a computer disk. In that respect, all concepts, designs, sketches and ideas we present to clients remain 100% the copyright of ADS.
Once a design is approved, the client has the right to use the approved designs for the purpose they were commissioned for. Sharing copyright with our client’s means we are always acknowledged, whenever appropriate, as authors of the creative work. IP is always ours, and the rights to reproduce the design, -the copyright-, goes to the client.
Once we have completed the design process, and you have paid in full for your final logo or design, the copyright to use that final individual logo or design are then transferred to you and you own them.However we do not include the final IP or working files, they remain under the ownership of ADS, we also own the full rights to any creative concepts not chosen.
In the event of using stock images or clip art, copyright remains that of the original photographers or stock image providers and can only be used according to their terms and conditions. In general, purchasing stock images or clip art only means buying a license and the design remains the property of the seller. For more information about Copyright, please visit the Australian Copyright Council website.
At ADS we endeavour to keep our website information and the terms of trade as up to date as per the requirements of the Australian Law and the Copyright Council.
