The general rule is that the first owner of copyright
in a copyright work is the author of that work,
unless it is made by an employee in the course of his or her employment in which case the
employer is the first owner of copyright. This is subject to agreement to the contrary, either
expressly in, say, an employment contract, or implied in some generally accepted course of
dealing in a particular area such as the higher education sector.
It is important to note that when a freelance is commissioned
to create a particular copyright work,
be it text or software or a photograph, the person / institution commissioning the work does not
automatically own the copyright in the work. To acquire copyright ownership, an assignment of
copyright from the freelance is required. To acquire use of the work only, a licence may be
executed, the ownership of copyright remaining with the freelance. For commissioned work then,
it
is advised that ownership of copyright be agreed upon before commencement of the creation of the
work.
