Verlust von Urheberrechten durch fehlende Rechteübertragung

Definition

Australian copyright law provides that copyright in artistic works (including graphic designs, layouts, logos) is generally owned by the creator, not the client, unless there is an express written assignment or appropriately drafted licence under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). If agencies hand over files (working files, source files, fonts, stock assets) without clear IP terms, disputes arise where clients claim full ownership and reuse rights and agencies either lose scope for further paid work, must refund fees, or face infringement allegations if they reuse design elements for other clients. Courts in Australia have awarded damages and ordered account of profits for copyright infringements, and legal fee exposure in Federal Court or Federal Circuit and Family Court copyright disputes regularly runs to tens of thousands of dollars even for SMEs. In commercial practice, agencies often accept discounted settlements or write‑offs (e.g. refund of project fee, free extra usage rights) to avoid litigation. Each disputed project can mean loss of the entire project margin (commonly AUD 5,000–20,000 for branding/identity jobs) plus several thousand in legal advice. Clear file‑archiving discipline (evidence of creation, timestamps, correspondence) and standardised IP‑handover clauses reduce this risk materially.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Graphic design agencies in Australia 🇦🇺 risk losing AUD 5,000–50,000 per dispute on poorly documented IP handover. Automation of rights assignment templates, file version tracking and signed acceptance at project close eliminates most of this risk.

Affected Stakeholders

Agency owners and directors, Creative directors, Account managers, In‑house legal or external IP lawyers, Finance managers (handling write‑offs and settlements)

Related Business Risks