Copyright Act 2021 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Copyright in Works
133. First owner — maker of work, etc., is default first owner
Feedback & supportSubject to the provisions of this Act, the first owner of copyright in a work is —
in the case of an authorial work — subject to subsection (2), the author;
in the case of a published edition of an authorial work — the publisher;
in the case of a sound recording — the maker of the recording;
in the case of a film — the maker of the film;
in the case of a broadcast — the broadcasting licensee that made the broadcast; and
in the case of a cable programme — the person providing the cable programme service in which the programme was included.
If copyright subsists in a work of joint authorship only because one or more (but not all) of the joint authors are qualified individuals, subsection (1)(a) does not confer ownership of the copyright on a joint author who is not a qualified individual.
Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to any contrary intention in —
any written agreement made on or after 21 November 2021 by the person who would otherwise be the first owner of a copyright under those subsections; or
any agreement before 21 November 2021 by the person who would otherwise be the first owner of a copyright under those subsections.