NOT OWNING THE COPYRIGHT TO YOUR BRAND LOGO

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It is important to know the dangers and effects of not owning the copyright to your brand logo. Some business owners stand a risk of losing everything they have worked for, because they do not own a copyright to their brand logo.

Imagine purchasing a car from someone and the owner of the car refuses to transfer it to your name. Would you be comfortable with that? Of course not! You will want a complete ownership of the vehicle since you have paid for it. Picture the same scenario between yourself and the designer of your brand logo. Thus, logo ownership gives you the right to use your brand logo whenever and wherever you want without confrontation.

Basically, Copyright refers to the legal right of the owner of intellectual property. You need to sign the copyright assignment agreement with the person or company that designed your logo to safeguard your brand logo. Under sections 1, 6, 9, 10, and 11 of the copyright Act chapter 68 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, it reveals that, as a business owner, if you do not sign the copyright assignment agreement, it simply means that you do not OWN a copyright to that brand logo but what you OWN is the license to use the logo. In such cases, the copyright still lies with the designer that designed that logo and your license can be revoked at any time despite the contract that you must have signed.

In Part 1 section 10 of the copyright Act, it is said that, the author shall be the first owner of the copyright in the work. Therefore, don’t neglect the importance of signing the copyright assignment agreement.

But in cases where you designed your brand logo with a designer, ensure that the designer (the individual or the company) signs over his/her own copyright to your business. This process protects your business.

Under the Nigerian Copyright Act. Cap 28 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, you will find the arrangement of all the sections and what it entails.