Owning a copyright prevents others from copying your work. This is helpful to maintain the integrity of your brand but merely preventing copying by itself does not generate any revenue for the copyright owner. In order to monetize your copyrights, it is important to enter into licensing agreements with other parties who wish to copy your work.
The Copyright Act specifically allows a copyright owner to grant another party the right to exploit the work, and doing so can lead to a stream of royalties or other form of license payment. Licensing can either be exclusive, limiting the license to only one party with higher royalty payments, or non-exclusive, allowing the copyright holder to license the work to many different parties at a lower royalty rate. Choosing the right type of license agreement is important to maximizing the profitability of your copyrights.
If you have any questions about licensing your intellectual property, please contact our office to set up a legal consultation.