What You Need to Know as a Brand or Designer
We’re not lawyers, but we work in branding every day—and one of the most common misunderstandings we see is around ownership.
A few years ago, I attended a copyright and trademark session and left with a couple of key insights that are still relevant today—especially if you’re in design, branding, or running a business where intellectual property matters.
So here’s a plain English overview.
First Rule: Copyright Stays With the Creator
If you’re a designer, illustrator, photographer—or any kind of creative—the copyright of your work belongs to you, by default. Not the client. Not the agency. Not the person who commissioned it. You own it—unless you’ve signed it over.
The only way a client has full legal copyright is if you agree to transfer it via contract. If you haven’t, then legally, you still hold the rights.
This catches a lot of people out—on both sides of the table.
Music, Audio & Mixed Media Projects
If you’ve ever created music or sound work, here’s how it breaks down:
- The producer owns the copyright of the recording
- The writer owns the lyrics
- If you composed the music or arrangement, you own that
It’s all separate. And unless it’s explicitly agreed in writing, the rights stay with the people who created each part.
So if you’re working with creatives to produce something branded—voiceovers, jingles, podcasts, etc.—make sure you know who owns what. And that you’ve agreed who needs to.
Brand Owners: Have You Got What You Think You’ve Got?
If you’ve had a logo designed or visual assets created but never formally signed a copyright transfer agreement, there’s a good chance you don’t actually own them.
Take the Innocent Smoothies case. They had to go through a legal battle just to claim ownership of their original logo because it wasn’t properly assigned. That’s time and money no startup wants to spend.
Before you assume you own your brand visuals, double-check your contracts. If you didn’t get legal ownership at the time, now’s the time to fix it.
Quickfire Definitions
TM – Trademark
Used to indicate a word or logo is considered a brand mark. There’s no legal weight to it—anyone can use it. It’s more a deterrent or placeholder while applying for the real thing.
® – Registered Trademark
This is legally binding. You can only use this once your logo or wordmark is officially registered. Using it without registration is an offence.
© – Copyright
Covers original works: text, images, designs, music, video, code. It doesn’t need to be registered, but you do need proof that it’s yours—ideally with timestamps, contracts, or any way to show authorship. If no one else has ever seen or copied it, there’s no case.
Why It Matters
If you ever want to sell your business, license your content, franchise your model, or even just sleep better at night, you need to know you own what you’re building.
That includes:
- Your logo
- Your website design
- Your packaging
- Your tone of voice documents
- Any visuals you’ve commissioned for your brand
If you didn’t create it yourself, check your agreements. Make sure it’s yours to use, and—if needed—to sell.
Final thought:
Copyright isn’t just for musicians or artists. If you’re building a brand, it’s part of your foundation. And if you don’t own it, you’re building on someone else’s ground.
Comments are closed