Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative works, such as photographs, music, software, slogans and design. It arises automatically upon creation of the material itself, without any form of registration. As a result, it is hard to keep track of copyrights that one owns. They cannot be looked up in a register, and it is hardly feasible for an individual or business to capture these rights in one overview.
As a consequence, the question whether someone owns a copyright is typically asked only when an issue arises. For instance, is the software code we developed copyright-protected? Does our product’s design infringe on the rights of a competitor? Are third parties allowed to copy parts of a text or video clip as they see fit? But also in other situations, copyright-related questions may come up: for example, when starting a partnership, or in case of a transfer of rights.