In the course of its business, a company can call on its employees to develop its website. Have you created a website for your employer and would you like to transfer your copyright to them?
The lawyers at Goldwin explain the conditions under which you can claim authorship of a website from your employer (A) and thereby assign your rights to him (B).
1. Development of a website by an employee
When certain conditions are met, an employee can claim an exclusive intangible property right in the website that he has developed for his employer, despite his subordinate status.
First of all, article L. 111-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code states that: ” The author of a work of the mind enjoys an exclusive intangible property right in that work, enforceable against all persons, by the mere fact of its creation “. Case law has clarified that an object can be qualified as a work of the mind when it reflects the personality of its author.
It therefore appears that for an employee to be able to claim authorship of a website, he or she must demonstrate that the website reflects his or her personality. Establishing such proof will suffice for the author to be able to claim author status vis-à-vis his employer and thus enjoy the rights relating to the website.
In other words, the existence of a relationship of subordination between the employer and the employee who is the author of a website does not deprive the said employee of his copyright. This is all the more true given that the Cour de cassation has repeatedly ruled against any automatic transfer of an employee’s copyright to his employer. More specifically, it has ruled that “ Theexistence of an employment contract entered into by the author of a work of the mind does not entail any derogation from the enjoyment of his intangible property rights“.
2. Transferring copyright on the Internet
Sometimes, however, the data used by an employee to develop a website belongs to the employer. In this case, the employee will not be able to use the website of which he is the author and will have to conclude an assignment agreement with his employer.
However, any transfer of copyright must be made in return for remuneration that is proportional to the revenue generated by the use of the work. In this case, any transfer of an employee’s copyright on a website must be made in return for a price that will be established in accordance with the revenue generated by the operation of the website. However, where the amount of such revenue cannot be determined, it is possible to set this remuneration at a flat rate.
For more information on the transfer of the website you have developed as part of your employment contract, please contact our team of lawyers.
