“An external designer created my logo”
Who owns the logo a designer created for me
Answer
Yes, but
You may use it for the purpose arising from the contract, because under § 91 of the Copyright Act the author of a commissioned work is deemed to have granted consent for that purpose. Any other purpose needs their consent and, which tends to come as a surprise, under the same provision the author is entitled to use the work themselves unless agreed otherwise.
Allowed only if you meet the conditions; miss one and it becomes unlawful.
Most companies think that paying the invoice bought them the logo. The Copyright Act does not work with the notion of buying a logo. It works with a work, an author and consent to use, and for a commissioned work that consent is presumed only to the extent of the purpose it was ordered for.
The second sentence of § 91(2) tends to be an even bigger surprise: the author may use a commissioned work themselves and grant consent to it to others, unless the parties agree otherwise. Without such an arrangement, the logo is not exclusively yours.
The conditions the answer rests on
- 01
Consent is presumed only for the purpose from the contract
§ 91(1) says that where an author created a work to order, they are deemed to have granted consent to its use for the purpose arising from the contract. The purpose is therefore the most important thing an order can contain, and the one most often missing.
- 02
Another purpose needs consent
Under the same sentence, the client is entitled to use the work for another purpose only with the author's consent. A logo ordered for business cards therefore need not cover product packaging or advertising.
- 03
The author may keep using the work
§ 91(2) gives the author the right to use a commissioned work themselves and to grant consent to it, unless agreed otherwise. If you want exclusivity, it has to be agreed.
- 04
The scope belongs in the licence agreement
§ 65(1) names what a licence agreement contains: the manner of use, the scope, the time and the remuneration. An invoice with the word logo on it sets none of those.
Where we will not answer for you
§ 91 applies to a work created under a contract for work. If your employee designed the logo, it is an employee work under § 90 and a different regime applies. The wording also does not determine what exactly the 'purpose arising from the contract' is where the order says nothing more specific than logo; that case is the most common one in practice and is decided by the circumstances of the particular arrangement. A trade mark is a separate matter alongside: copyright in a logo and a registered trade mark are not the same thing.
How to do it in practice
The purpose written into the order
One sentence about what the logo will be used for decides the scope of the presumed consent under § 91(1). It is the cheapest measure on the whole list.
An exclusive licence where you need one
If you do not want the author to use the logo elsewhere, it has to be agreed under § 91(2). The act does not presume exclusivity on its own.
A written licence agreement for a larger commission
For a visual identity that will appear on packaging and in advertising, it pays to have the elements under § 65(1) written out. Dealing with it later means dealing with it once the logo is already in use.
What the statute says
Wording taken from the official register. Every excerpt is machine-compared against the statutes in our database, so it cannot drift from what the law actually says.
Dielo na objednávku je dielo vytvorené autorom na základe zmluvy o dielo. Ak autor vytvoril dielo na objednávku, platí, že udelil súhlas na jeho použitie na účel vyplývajúci zo zmluvy, ak nie je dohodnuté inak. Objednávateľ je oprávnený použiť toto dielo na iný účel len so súhlasom autora, ak tento zákon neustanovuje inak.Autor je oprávnený dielo na objednávku sám použiť, ako aj udeliť súhlas na jeho použitie, ak nie je dohodnuté inakDielo vytvorené autorom na splnenie povinností vyplývajúcich mu z pracovnoprávneho vzťahu alebo z obdobného pracovného vzťahu sa považuje za zamestnanecké dielo.Licenčnou zmluvou udeľuje autor nadobúdateľovi súhlas na použitie diela (ďalej len „licencia“). Licenčná zmluva obsahuje najmä spôsob použitia diela podľa § 19 ods. 4, rozsah licencie, čas, na ktorý autor licenciu udeľuje, alebo spôsob jeho určenia a odmenu za udelenie licencie alebo spôsob jej určeniaFrequently asked questions
I paid the invoice, so is the logo not mine?
The Copyright Act does not work with buying a work. § 91(1) says that consent to use for the purpose arising from the contract is presumed; paying the price does not change the scope of that purpose.
Can the designer give the same logo to another client?
§ 91(2) gives them the right to use the work themselves and to grant consent to it, unless agreed otherwise. Whether they may do so with a particular logo depends on what you agreed.
Does the same apply if our employee designed the logo?
No. That is an employee work under § 90(1) and a different regime applies than for a commissioned work.
Does registering the logo as a trade mark settle it?
A trade mark and copyright in a logo are separate matters. Registering a trade mark does not replace the author's consent under § 91, and this page does not deal with trade marks.