Copyright - Arises Automatically, Proven Only on Paper
Copyright is the only IP right that needs no registration: text, a photograph, code, music and design are protected the moment they are created. That very simplicity creates the main problem - in a dispute the question is not "does the right exist" but "who can prove they created it, and created it first". And a second, even more frequent problem: who owns the right when the work was made to order or at work - because paying for something does not transfer the right to it.
This page covers the practical side of copyright: how authorship and date are fixed so that evidence exists when a dispute arises, who owns a work made in employment or to order, what an assignment agreement must say, what stays with the author even after assignment, how a lawyer acts on online infringement and what is claimed in court. Trademarks, patents and counterfeiting have their own pages.
Five Situations and Who Owns the Right
Most copyright disputes are not about copying but about ownership: "I paid for it" and "it is mine" are not the same thing.
A Copyright Case - From Fixing the Right to Court
Building the chain of rights
Who created it, in what capacity (employee, freelancer, agency), under which contract and whether the right was assigned in writing. The lawyer builds the chain backwards - from the client to every performer - and fills the gaps with assignment agreements, retroactively where needed, before a dispute starts or an investor demands due diligence.
Fixing authorship and date
Source files with metadata, version history (git, cloud services), publication date, notarial deposit or voluntary copyright registration with Sakpatenti - registration does not create the right but is strong evidence of the date. The lawyer arranges this before any infringement, because afterwards any file "could have been created later".
Recording the infringement
A notarised record of the website's state (or screenshots with metadata and an archive link), the scale of the infringement, identification of the infringer (domain owner, company, platform account). The evidence must be captured before the content is taken down - once removed, the infringement is harder to prove.
A written demand and takedown
A claim to the infringer: the document proving the right, a description of the infringement, the demand (removal, attribution, compensation) and a deadline. In parallel, the platform's or host's takedown procedure, which needs no court. Most cases stop at this stage.
Court: injunction and compensation
A claim for an injunction, a ban on further use, damages or statutory compensation (where the exact loss cannot be calculated) and restoration of the author's name. Interim relief - blocking a site or a print run - is sought on the first day.
Prevention: contracts and policy
A clause on works made in employment in the employment contract, a freelance contract template with assignment, a licence text for clients, and internal rules on open source and third-party content. All of that is far cheaper than one court case.
Why "I Paid for It" Does Not Mean You Own It - and What the Contract Must Say
An assignment or licence of economic copyright is valid only in writing, and the contract must specifically list which rights pass: publication, reproduction, distribution, public display, making available online, adaptation (translation, modification). Whatever is not listed stays with the author - and it is precisely the adaptation right that is forgotten most often: a logo you cannot modify, or text you cannot edit, is as much a problem as no right at all.
The contract must also state the territory (Georgia or worldwide), the term (specific years or the full duration of the right), exclusivity (whether the author may license the same work to others) and the right to transfer what you have acquired to a third party - which is critical when the company is sold or assets move into a holding. The wording "all rights pass to the client" is often insufficient, and "the work has been delivered and I have no claims" does not transfer any right at all.
Finally, what cannot be assigned: moral rights. The right of authorship, the right to attribution and the right to the integrity of the work stay with the author even after a full assignment of economic rights. In practice that means the owner of the work must still credit the author unless the author has waived it separately, and a modification that damages the author's reputation is challengeable. That is why a good contract contains separate clauses on how attribution is given and how far adaptation may go.
What a Copyright Case Rests On
- Automatic creation
- The right arises the moment the work is created, with no registration, notice or formality; voluntary deposit with Sakpatenti does not create the right but is evidence of the date.
- Life plus 70 years
- Economic rights last for the author's life and 70 years after death, after which the work enters the public domain. Economic rights pass to heirs by inheritance.
- Moral rights
- Authorship, attribution and the integrity of the work are inalienable and stay with the author even after economic rights are assigned; their breach is a separate ground of claim.
- Expression only
- What is protected is the specific expression, not an idea, concept, method, fact or style. A work independently created from a similar idea is not an infringement - so a dispute proves copying, not similarity.
- Free use
- The law permits use for quotation, teaching, news and criticism - with the source and author credited and within reasonable limits. Commercial use as a rule does not fall within those exceptions.
- Compensation
- On infringement you may claim damages or, where the exact loss is hard to prove, statutory compensation - the main instrument in photograph and text cases.
What Proves Authorship and Date - What the Lawyer Keeps
- Source files with metadata (RAW, PSD, AI, project files) and version history - with the log from a cloud service or repository.
- The publication date: website, social media, print edition, archive link - anything showing the work existed on a specific day.
- Notarial deposit or voluntary registration - especially for high-value works (software, a screenplay, music).
- Contracts with every performer: the employment clause on works made in employment, the freelancer's assignment, the agency chain.
- Correspondence on the commission and delivery: the brief, versions sent, approvals - showing the creation process and its dates.
- A record of the infringement: a notarised web page or screenshots with dates, URLs and identification of the infringer.
Three Copyright Cases
A logo that stayed with the freelancer
A company bought a logo from a freelancer, paid for it and built a brand on it; three years later the freelancer sold the same logo to a competitor. The contract had no assignment clause. The lawyer: negotiated a retroactive assignment with the author (for a fee) and, in parallel, registered a trademark in the company's name, which secured the brand independently. The competitor stopped using the logo.
Photographs that appeared on a competitor's site
A photographer's commercial images were used in a competitor's catalogue without attribution. The lawyer: a notarised record of the site, the source RAW files with metadata, a written demand for removal and payment; after refusal, a claim for compensation and restoration of the author's name. The case settled - the photographs were removed and compensation paid.
Code whose chain an investor checked
At the investment stage, legal due diligence showed that the product's core modules belonged to two freelancers - the contracts contained no assignment - and that one founder had written code while employed at another company. The lawyer: assignment agreements with both freelancers, confirmation from the founder's former employer that it claimed no rights, and an internal policy on open source licences. The deal closed.
Questions About Copyright
I paid the photographer/designer. Is the work mine?
The file is yours, the right is not, unless the contract assigns it in writing. By law copyright stays with the creator, and they may give the same work to someone else. There are two solutions: an assignment agreement now (possible retroactively, for a fee) and, for a brand, trademark registration, which secures protection independently.
How do I prove that I created it?
With source files and their metadata, version history, the publication date, correspondence about the creation process and, for valuable works, notarial deposit or voluntary registration. The key principle: evidence is created before the infringement. "Confirmatory" files made after a dispute begins are far weaker, because their date is disputable.
My texts are on someone else's site. What will I actually get?
First, removal: a written demand and the platform or host takedown procedure are often enough. Then compensation: the law provides for damages or statutory compensation where the exact loss is hard to calculate. The amount depends on the scale of the infringement, its commercial nature and duration. You may also claim restoration of your name and publication of the decision.
An employee created it at work. Does the company own it?
Yes, if it was created within their duties and the employment contract (or a separate agreement) provides for the economic rights to pass to the employer. Without that clause the question is disputable - especially when the employee leaves. That is why the clause is standard in IT, design and media companies, and is added by separate agreement for existing staff.
Is an image or text generated by artificial intelligence mine?
Output generated without a human creative contribution does not create copyright - you have no right in it and others may use it too. Where your contribution is substantial (selection, composition, editing, adaptation), protection is possible for that part. The service's terms are checked separately - some restrict use of the output or reserve rights to it.
Lawyers for Copyright Cases
A copyright case rests on evidence and on one clause in a contract - both created before the infringement. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who drafts assignment agreements and litigates infringement cases.
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