Copyrights to Employee Works

A substantial amount of material, which is not patentable and thus not within the scope of the Act on the Right in Employee Inventions, arises out of the employment relationships. If the employee’s creative contribution to the result is sufficient, the material may be a work within the meaning of the Copyright Act. Then the Copyright Act applies. Employee works are very common in all expert professions.

According to the Copyright Act, copyrights primarily belong to the creator of the work. The starting point for works arising out of employment relationships is the same: the copyright to works belongs to the employee and it belongs to the employer only if there is an express or implied agreement to that effect. If there is no agreement, it is necessary, in order to establish to whom the copyright belongs, to consider the purpose of the employment relationship and the practice observed in respect of copyrights in the relevant business sector.

Consequently, it is advisable to include a clause in the employment contract stating that the employer has the right to all works and other materials arising from the employment relationship, including the right to alter and revise such.

According to the law, an employee is entitled to fair and reasonable compensation when he or she transfers the exclusive right to use a work he or she has created. Typically, the compensation is agreed to be included in the employee's monthly salary under the employment contract, unless otherwise provided by mandatory law.

In addition, an employee who originally created the work is, in principle, entitled to receive, at least once a year, up-to-date, relevant and comprehensive information on the exploitation of his or her work from the employer to whom he or she has transferred the copyright or exclusive right to use his or her work.

Computer programs and databases are considered to be works in the Copyright Act but the Act also includes a special provision with regard to such. If the computer program and thereto directly related works have been created when fulfilling duties that follow from the employment relationship, the copyright to the computer program and the work is transferred to the employer.

Exclusive rights to circuit designs of integrated circuits are regulated separately. Circuit designs created within the employment relationship are subject to the same regulations as computer programs. Therefore the employer has the same rights to a circuit design of integrated circuits if it is created when conducting the employment relationship’s assignments.

Collective agreements in some sectors contain provisions on the transfer of copyright in the employment relationship, so employers should always check possible collective agreement provisions.