Get it in Writing: Protecting your Brand
April 10, 2007 10:56 AM
Filed Under: Ask A Lawyer Ask BCCC
Without proper agreements in place you can do serious harm to your brand and advertising campaigns. Under copyright law in Canada, when you hire an independent contractor to do work such as designing a logo, brand, pamphlet or flyer advertising your product, guess who owns the copyright? Without a written agreement in place, the independent contractor.
Section 13(1) of the Copyright Act makes it clear that copyright is owned by the original author of a work. Unless the independent contractor has assigned his or her ownership in their work to you, they will continue to own the copyright notwithstanding that you have paid them money for the work. The independent contractor could prevent you from using the design work in the future, from making changes to the design work or from creating derivative works based on the design work.
Another mistake often made by companies is failing to have an agreement authorizing another company to use your trade-mark or simply standing by when another party uses your mark. You cannot allow this because you could lose your rights to your brand. If you do not licence your product or do not enforce your rights, that party could have a complete defence to a later action for trade-mark infringement.
So remember that whenever dealing with your brand, make sure you see a lawyer and put an agreement in place that protects your rights.
