Transfer of copyright and related rights in Russia

The existence of exclusive rights to the object of creative activity gives the opportunity not only to use the work, but also to dispose of it at one's own discretion. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation allows full or partial transfer of rights to other persons, including on a compensation basis. For this purpose a license agreement on temporary transfer of rights or an agreement on full alienation of rights is executed.

Options for disposing of the right

Alienation of copyrights takes place under the terms of a contract or license agreement. If there is a requirement for registration of intellectual property rights, the same procedure will be applied when executing contracts. With regard to copyrights, the law allows the following disposal options:

• assignment to third parties - under the terms of the agreement, the acquirer acquires the full set of exclusive rights, but the authorship of the object will remain unchanged;
• transfer of copyright and related rights in a limited volume and for a temporary period - the parties execute a license agreement, in which they determine the conditions of use of the object (territorial limits, term of rights transfer, conditions of remuneration payment, etc.);
• agreement for acquisition of rights on the terms of copyright order - the parties determine the terms of transfer of rights to the not yet created object of creative work (most often this form of rights transfer is used in the advertising business - an order for a company logo, a website or other similar object is made out).

Purchase of rights on terms of full alienation allows the new owner to independently decide the further fate of the object. He will be able to use the acquired exclusive rights for his own needs, for commercial activities, for subsequent transfer on the terms of a license, etc.

As a rule, licensing agreements are of compensatory nature. Even if the text of the document does not specify the terms of payment of remuneration, but states the condition of its compensation, the contract is considered as not concluded. When purchasing rights from a natural person, the contract may be free of charge, while legal entities may formalize the transfer only on a commercial basis.

The owner of the object can independently establish restrictions on the license (e.g., a ban on the exercise of rights from certain regions or on the further transfer of rights to other persons).

Rules of paperwork

Unlike patents for inventions, copyrights arise directly from the moment of creation of a work or other object of creative work. Registration can be carried out only for software (such decision is made by the right holder himself) - in this case the same procedure will be applied for conclusion of the agreement on transfer of rights.

When executing documents on transfer of copyrights the following nuances must be taken into account:

• the contract is made in writing, but for the publication of the object in a periodical publication the oral agreement will be sufficient (for example, by oral agreement the rights to a photograph or an image to be placed in a magazine can be transferred);
• for the temporary transfer of rights may be given a simple or exclusive license - in the first variant, the right holder preserves the possibility to make similar agreements with other persons;
• the licensing agreement may contain a clause about the territory where temporary use of rights is allowed - if there is no such clause, the agreement applies to the whole territory of the Russian Federation;
• if a work has several authors or rights holders, the transfer of a single object is allowed only with the consent of each rights holder (for example, authorship of several persons may be established for a song, or it will arise for separate parts of the work - for music, poems, etc.).

The purchase and sale implies a full transfer of rights, but authorship will be retained even in this case. In the case of license agreements, the rights are returned to the original owner after the expiration of the agreement, or if the conditions of use are violated.

Full or partial acquisition of rights is allowed under contracts between citizens and enterprises. Also the law does not contain restrictions on the status of the parties. For example, if the rights to a work belong to a foreign citizen, they are subject to protection under national and international law. The procedure for acquiring rights from a non-resident or a domestic entity is practically the same.

It is possible to execute all documents for the transfer of rights independently, through a representative, or through patent attorneys. For foreign participants in such cases, the conduct of business is allowed only through a patent attorney registered with the service of Rospatent.

Our Services in Russia and abroad

If you need to execute a copyright or draw up documents on their transfer to other persons, our specialists will provide the following services:

• consulting support in choosing the form of disposal of copyrights;
• services for registration of rights to the object of intellectual activity, if this is necessary for their subsequent transfer to third parties;
• assistance in negotiating contract terms, including determination of the market value of rights to books, musical or creative works, as well as related rights;
• drawing up an agreement on the assignment of rights or licensing agreements;
• protection of copyrights in case of violation of contracts - sending claims for termination of violations, calculation of the amount of damages, judicial recovery of compensation or losses in case of unauthorized use of other people's rights.

Patent attorneys will act as your representative in negotiations with the acquirer of rights, agree on the most favorable terms of the deal. If necessary, we will provide services for registration of the contract, as well as for judicial settlement of the dispute.