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Talent management in the field of copyright means that a creator's property interests are governed through defined legal instruments: the transfer of rights, an exclusive license, and a contract for the creation of a work. The Law of Georgia on Copyright and Neighboring Rights sets clear rules for each of them: Article 36 governs the transfer of property rights, Article 37 the exclusive license, and Article 43 the contract under which a work is created on commission. This page explains what these contracts may and may not contain, who keeps the rights that the contract does not expressly mention, and how restrictions on a creator's future work are struck down.
The Transfer of Property Rights
Article 36 lays the general foundation: an author or other holder of copyright may transfer all property rights, or part of them, to a successor. The transfer may therefore be total or partial — by specific rights or by specific manners of use. In talent-management practice this norm drives a whole series of decisions: which rights remain with the creator, which pass to a management team or producer, and within what limits they may be administered. The scope of the transfer is always defined by the particular contract, which is precisely why it matters that the contract reflects exactly what is transferred and what is not. Where the transfer is partial, the remaining bundle of rights stays in the creator's hands and may be exploited independently; where it is total, the successor administers the entire property sphere of the work. The choice between the two is a matter of commercial strategy, but its legal form is fixed by this norm alone.
The Exclusive License
Article 37 defines the exclusive-license contract: under it, the author or other holder gives only the licensee the exclusive right to use the work in the manner and within the limits defined by the contract, and grants that same licensee the right to prohibit such use of the work by other persons, including the author. This nature of the exclusive license distinguishes it from arrangements in which a right of use is granted to several persons: here the defined manner of use belongs to the licensee alone. The law also protects the underlying interest: the author may exercise the right to prohibit use of the work by other persons if the licensee does not pursue the protection of that right. Exclusivity governs the market only when someone defends it: with a passive licensee, the author moves into the position of self-defense. For talent management this means that managing an exclusivity requires active monitoring, and that the boundaries of use defined by the contract should be drafted so that unauthorized use by third parties is easy to detect.
The Contract for the Creation of a Work
Article 43 governs commissions: under a work-creation contract the author is obliged to create the work in accordance with the terms of the contract and to transfer it to the commissioner, while the commissioner is obliged to accept the work and pay the author a royalty. The author must create the work personally unless the contract provides otherwise, and the involvement of another person is admissible only with the commissioner's consent. The commissioner must examine the work immediately upon the expiry of the contractual deadline and notify the author in writing of approval, of rejection on the basis of the contract, or of the need for amendments; if no written notice is sent within the deadline, the work is deemed approved. The procedure, term and amount of an advance payment are determined by the contract. The commissioner's reaction is also procedurally fixed: examination and a written notice of approval, of rejection on the basis of the contract, or of the need for amendments are established by the same norm, and each variant produces a different consequence — which is why the parties' communication should be recorded in exactly this form. The law adds special safeguards: a contract clause restricting the author's right to create, in the future, a work on a defined theme or in a defined field is void, and the subject of the contract cannot be the transfer of rights to a work that the author may create in the future. The property copyrights in a work created on commission belong to the commissioner unless the contract provides otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
May only part of the property rights be transferred?
Yes — an author or other holder may transfer to a successor all property rights or part of them (Article 36).
What defines an exclusive license?
Use in the manner and within the limits defined by the contract belongs to the licensee alone, who may prohibit such use by others, including the author; if the licensee does not protect the right, the author may exercise the prohibition (Article 37).
What happens if the commissioner does not respond in time?
If no written notice is sent to the author within the contractual deadline, the work is deemed approved by the commissioner (Article 43).
Who owns the property rights in a commissioned work?
As the starting rule — the commissioner, unless the contract provides otherwise; restrictions on the author's future creativity are void (Article 43).
How We Help on Legal.ge
We will draft transfer agreements, exclusive licenses and work-creation contracts in which the scope of the transfer, the manner of use, the royalty and the advance are defined precisely; we will distinguish which rights remain with the creator and check that the contract contains no prohibited restrictions on future work. Contact us and receive a legal foundation for managing talent.