問23
頻出度★★★
特段の取決めをしないで, A 社が B 社にソフトウェア開発を委託した場合, ソフトウェアの著作権の保有先として, 適切なものはどれか。
平成28年度 秋期 ITパスポート試験 問23
ストラテジ系法務 › 知的財産権
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 23
Incorrectア
The copyright becomes jointly owned by Company A and Company B only when the two companies jointly create the work (a “joint work”) or when they stipulate joint ownership in the contract. In this question Company B developed it alone and there is no special agreement, so it is not held by both parties.
Incorrectイ
A copyright arises automatically at the moment of creation and does not simply cease to exist. There is no ground for extinction such as expiration of the protection period or absence of a rights holder, and the right belonging to Company B does exist, so “it ceases to exist” is incorrect.
Incorrectウ
The commissioning company, Company A, is merely the client that pays the cost and did not actually create the work. As long as there is no special agreement (a copyright assignment contract), the copyright does not pass to Company A, so it is not held entirely by Company A.
- エ
正解 A copyright arises automatically and belongs to the person who actually created the work (the principle of original vesting under the Copyright Act). The party that accepted the software development order and actually did the development is Company B, so the copyright arises in Company B as the creator. For the client, Company A, to obtain the copyright, a special agreement such as “assign the copyright to Company A” would have to be made in the contract, but in this question no such agreement was made. Therefore the copyright is held entirely by Company B (choice エ).
ここがポイント
- A copyright originally belongs to the person who created the work (the author) under the Copyright Act. Even if development is outsourced, unless there is a special agreement the copyright remains with the party that accepted the order and did the development (Company B).
- If the client wants to obtain the copyright, it must explicitly stipulate the assignment or attribution of the copyright in the contract.
用語