Copyright Act 1994

Description, ownership, and duration of copyright - Ownership of copyright

21: First ownership of copyright

You could also call this:

"Who owns the copyright when you create something?"

You are the first owner of copyright for a work you create. When you make something for your job, like a story or a picture, your employer owns the copyright. If someone pays you to create something, like a photo or a computer program, they own the copyright, unless you agree otherwise, and this is also subject to sections 26 and 28.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM345930.

This page was last updated on 3 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Business > Intellectual propertyWork and jobs > Worker rights

20: Qualification by reference to origin of communication work, or

"Getting copyright for works sent from New Zealand or some other countries"

22: Duration of copyright in literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works, or

"How long copyright lasts for things you create"

Part 1Description, ownership, and duration of copyright
Ownership of copyright

21First ownership of copyright

Subject to the provisions of this section, the person who is the author of a work is the first owner of any copyright in the work.
Where an employee makes, in the course of his or her employment, a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, that person's employer is the first owner of any copyright in the work.
Where—
a person commissions, and pays or agrees to pay for, the taking of a photograph or the making of a computer program, painting, drawing, diagram, map, chart, plan, engraving, model, sculpture, film, or sound recording; and
the work is made in pursuance of that commission,—

Subsections (2) and (3) apply subject to any agreement to the contrary.
Subsections (1) to (4) apply subject to sections 26 and 28.

Compare

1962 No 33 ss 9, 13(4), 14(4)