Who owns IP created by staff and contractors depends on the type of right, the country and the paperwork. Employers usually own copyright and inventions made in the course of employment, but France needs written assignments for most author's rights, Germany requires a claim procedure and pays inventors remuneration, and contractors generally keep their rights unless they assign them in writing. Getting this wrong surfaces in due diligence and in disputes.
Employees: default ownership differs
In the UK, copyright in works made by an employee in the course of employment belongs to the employer unless agreed otherwise, and inventions belong to the employer where made in the course of normal or assigned duties. In the US, a work prepared by an employee within the scope of employment is a work made for hire owned by the employer. Singapore and India also give employers first ownership of employee works, and the UAE gives employers economic rights in works related to their business made with their resources.
France is stricter: an employment contract does not by itself transfer author's rights, except for economic rights in software. EU law gives employers the economic rights in software created by employees in the course of their duties. Germany runs a formal process for employee inventions: the employer claims the invention, a claim is deemed made unless released within four months of the employee's report, and the employee is then entitled to reasonable remuneration.1234567891011
Contractors and assignments
Contractors are usually first owners of what they create. In the US, commissioned work is a work made for hire only in listed categories and with a signed written agreement, and any copyright transfer must be in a signed writing. Singapore gives commissioned works to the creator unless agreed otherwise in writing, while the UAE gives copyright in commissioned works to the commissioning party unless agreed otherwise in writing.
India requires copyright assignments to be written and signed, and an assignment that does not state its period or territory is deemed to last five years and cover only India. Assignment clauses should therefore state that rights are assigned worldwide for their full term.3125713
| Market | Employee works | Commissioned or contractor works | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Employer owns copyright and qualifying inventions | Author owns unless assigned | CDPA 1988 s11; Patents Act 1977 s39 |
| United States (federal) | Employer is author (work made for hire) | Work for hire only in listed categories with signed agreement; otherwise signed assignment | 17 U.S.C. 101, 201, 204 |
| Germany | Employer claims inventions; inventor remunerated | Not researched | ArbnErfG §§ 6, 9 |
| France | Contract does not transfer author's rights, except software economic rights | Written assignment listing rights | service-public.fr |
| Singapore | Employer owns | Creator owns unless agreed in writing | Copyright Act 2021 |
| UAE (federal) | Employer owns economic rights in related works made with its resources | Commissioning party owns unless agreed in writing | Federal Decree-Law 38 of 2021 |
| India (central) | Employer is first owner unless agreed otherwise | Written signed assignment; defaults of 5 years and India | Copyright Act 1957 ss17, 19 |
Decisions to make
- Is the creator an employee or a contractor in each country?1357Default ownership rules differ sharply between the two.
- Do contracts contain written, signed assignments stating worldwide scope and full term?1213US transfers need a signed writing and Indian assignments default to five years and India only.
- Are there German employee inventors?1011The employer must manage the claim procedure and pay reasonable remuneration.
- Are French employees creating non-software works?8Employment alone does not transfer those rights; a compliant written assignment is needed.
Documents usually needed
- Employment contracts with IP and confidentiality clauses
- Contractor agreements with present assignment of rights
- Invention disclosure and claim records (Germany)
- Confirmatory assignments for founders and early contributors
- IP ownership schedule for due diligence
Common mistakes
- Assuming a contractor's work belongs to the client because it was paid for
- Using an assignment that omits period and territory for Indian rights
- Ignoring German inventor remuneration
- Relying on a generic employment clause for French author's rights
- Leaving founder-created IP outside the company
Questions businesses ask
Do we own code written by a freelance developer?
Not automatically in the UK or the US; you need a signed written assignment (or, in the US, a work-for-hire agreement in a listed category). The UAE gives commissioned works to the commissioning party unless agreed otherwise.13127
What does an Indian assignment need?
It must be in writing and signed by the assignor, and should state period and territory to avoid the five-year and India-only defaults.13
What this guide does not yet confirm
These points need checking with a qualified local professional before you rely on them.
- Patent ownership rules for employee inventions in India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, France and the US were not researched.
- Saudi copyright ownership rules for employees and contractors were not researched.
- Moral rights and their waivability were not covered.
Sources and review status
Each statement is numbered to the source it was checked against. We use official sources where we can, and each statement says whether it was checked against an official or a secondary source. Sources last checked on 19 October 2026. None of it has been professionally reviewed yet: it is research checked against official and secondary sources by WONE Global, not legal or tax advice.
Where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or a film is made by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is the first owner of the copyright, subject to any agreement to the contrary. United Kingdom; Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s11(2). Otherwise the author is the first owner (s11(1)), so works by contractors stay with the contractor unless assigned.
An invention made by an employee belongs to the employer if it was made in the course of the employee's normal or specifically assigned duties in circumstances where an invention might reasonably be expected, or where the employee had a special obligation to further the employer's interests. United Kingdom; Patents Act 1977 s39(1).
A work made for hire is a work prepared by an employee within the scope of employment, or a specially ordered or commissioned work in one of nine listed categories where the parties expressly agree in a signed written instrument that it is a work made for hire. Federal; 17 U.S.C. 101. The listed categories include contributions to collective works, parts of audiovisual works, translations, compilations and instructional texts; software commissioned from a contractor generally falls outside them.
The observation about commissioned software is an inference from the listed categories, not a statement in the statute.
For a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author and owns all rights in the copyright unless the parties agree otherwise in a signed written instrument. Federal; 17 U.S.C. 201(b). Otherwise copyright vests initially in the author (201(a)).
Under the Copyright Act 2021, works created by employees in the course of employment belong to the employer, and commissioned works belong to the creator, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
Reused from sg-ip-011.
For a work made in the course of employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, the employer is the first owner of the copyright in the absence of any agreement to the contrary. Central; Copyright Act 1957 s17 proviso (c), where provisos (a) and (b) on journalistic and commissioned artistic works do not apply.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, copyright in a commissioned work belongs to the commissioning party, and economic rights in an employee's work related to the employer's business and made with its resources belong to the employer. Federal; work unrelated to the employer's business and made without its resources stays with the employee (Article 28(3)).
Reused from ae-ip-013.
An assignment of author's rights must be in writing and must list the rights assigned exhaustively and define the scope of use; an employment contract does not by itself transfer author's rights to the employer, except that economic rights in software created by an employee in the course of duties pass automatically to the employer. Only economic (patrimonial) rights can be assigned. The contract should state the works, rights, media, territory, duration and price.
Reused from fr-ip-g07.
Where a computer program is created by an employee in the execution of his duties or following the employer's instructions, the employer exclusively is entitled to exercise all economic rights in the program, unless otherwise provided by contract. Directive 2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programs, Article 2(3); implemented in each Member State.
Text read on legislation.gov.uk's archive of EU legislation as it stood at the end of 2020; confirm the current text on EUR-Lex.
A German employer may claim an employee's service invention by declaration, and the claim is deemed made unless the employer releases the invention in text form within four months of receiving the employee's proper report. Germany; Employee Inventions Act (ArbnErfG) § 6.
Once the employer has claimed a service invention, the employee is entitled to reasonable remuneration from the employer. Germany; ArbnErfG § 9(1).
A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is valid only if an instrument of conveyance or a note or memorandum of the transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights or its authorised agent. Federal; 17 U.S.C. 204(a).
An assignment of copyright is valid only if it is in writing and signed by the assignor; if the period is not stated it is deemed to be five years, and if the territory is not stated it is presumed to be India. Central; Copyright Act 1957 s19(1), (5) and (6).
Questions on this topic
13 statements on employee and contractor ip ownership
