The common copyright

Image: Herman Kuypers, Pair, 2020
For each column in the rechtReeKs series, the Arts Union chooses an appropriate image created by one of its member artists that has no relation to the issues in the article.

The tension was palpable. Both sides looked at each other scathingly and it was quiet, very quiet. It is hard to imagine that these two people were best friends and designed a wonderful installation together. About love no less. There is a lot of interest, but the work has been on the shelf for months waiting for better times. Disagreement over a design adjustment has thrown a spanner in the works, and it does not appear that there will be a solution anytime soon. 

The "culprit" here is copyright law. If a work is created by several people, a common copyright may arise. As with ordinary copyright law, here too the principle that a work may be used only with the permission of the copyright owner. With a common copyright, however, this applies to all copyright holders and also in relation to each other. 

If a work is created by multiple people, a common copyright may arise

A common copyright arises automatically, but not overnight. Multiple individuals must contribute their creative have delivered AND the work at issue must be one forms. This is the case when a work is created through such collaboration that it is impossible for an outsider to point out in concrete terms what each person's individual contribution has been. For example, when two people both work on - I'll give you something - one installation about love. 

If a work is divisible into several contributions, then of a joint copyright does not exist. Consider the situation where one would have focused entirely on the design of the installation and the other composed the accompanying music. In that case, you are dealing with a combination of two separate works, even if they are aligned. The creators of these each have their own copyright. So they may also exploit their work separately. If the creator of the music wants to release it himself, that is allowed. Think of Fiep Westendorp who released her drawings of Jip and Janneke separately from the story at the Hema. 

Common copyright means that permission from all creators is required for any type of use. This applies such as whether, where and how the work is exhibited, as well as making adjustments or deciding which photographs of the work are published. In this way, everyone who participated in the final product is protected. 

If a work is divisible into several contributions, then there is no common copyright

A wonderful premise, but the other side is that every creator in effect has a veto power with which to block the other's wishes. That this can lead to considerable gridlock is obvious. 

The advice is just like marriage. It's better to properly document the arrangements when everything is still rosy and you can't imagine anything about a possible divorce. And to make the comparison even more pregnant: a copyright lasts until seventy years after the creator's death. So the common copyright does not last as long as love lasts. It runs until death separates us (and beyond)! 

If you are working together on a work of art, it is a good idea to agree on what you will do if you cannot work it out together and how you will part if that does not lead to a solution. For example, you can stipulate that both may use the work (if that is possible) or, conversely, that the joint copyright is transferred to the other(s) in exchange for compensation. 

Better to lay down the arrangements properly when everything is still rosy

If you are really deadlocked, the courts can be called in. This will weigh the interests of the copyright holders against each other. weigh and establish, as it were, a coping arrangement for further cooperation or use. This, of course, does not have the preference. It makes you dependent as a creator and you have lost your influence on the outcome. 

Ultimately, all parties benefit from clear agreements. Clarity about common copyright is not only an added value for the work, but also for cooperation. 

Whether we will ever see the installation about love again depends on how the love between its creators develops. I hope they come out of it.