Transfer of copyright: a guarantee for the transferee or transferee

The assignment of copyright is an agreement, where the writer transfers, part or all the rights of his writing to a third person, in exchange for a certain amount of money. These agreements are basically made by the screenwriter of the film or the authors of the books, when they assign all or part of the rights of their work to the producer of the film or to the publisher of the book, in exchange for monetary compensation for their finished work. The agreement is also essential to prevent the writer from filing copyright infringement and an infringement claim for reusing their works.

There are different ways how the writer or author transfers their right. In the first instance, the producer may hire the writer to write a script or it may be designated as ‘Job done for hire’, to finish the writing job. Once the writer completes the writing assignment, he transfers the script directly to the producer, via the copyright transfer agreement, and commits in writing that the writing was completed during the ‘Work done for hire’. By signing the Transfer of Rights Agreement, the producer owns and becomes the legal owner of the work made by the author.

It should also be noted that, the writer not only transfers his right to the work, but also transfers numerous rights given below to a third party:

• You can reproduce copies of the work

• You can create derivative or copied work from the writer’s work.

• Copies or original work may be sold or distributed to the public, by transfer of ownership, publication, loan, rental, and other means.

• The work may be displayed and used publicly for monetary or other considerations.

The agreement also contains the contact details, provisions for the transfer of rights to the sponsor or agent, guarantees and representations, date of the agreement, signature of both parties and many other clauses. The signed Contract becomes legally binding on either party and can be filed in court to resolve disputes and copyright violations.

It is also advisable that the contract be filed with the US Copyright Office to protect yourself from lawsuits for copyright infringement and infringement at a future date. Filing of the copyright assignment must be done in the correct order, such as the proper designation, the type of work (employed or commissioned), and the nature of the transferred rights. During copyright infringement claims in court, such settlement and filing details with the US copyright office are very helpful in protecting the assignee or assignee.