IPA IP 2020 Question 12
A question IPA Japan published in 令和2年度 10月 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問12, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
At Company A, two forms are being compared and considered for the development of a program whose work up to the design was done by Company A: a form in which the development is entrusted to Company B on the basis of a contract for work, and a form in which it is performed by Mr. C, who is dispatched from Company B on the basis of a dispatch contract. When no provision concerning the ownership of the copyright of the developed program is specified in the contract between the companies, which of the following shows to whom the copyright belongs?
Explanation
Company B under the contract for work, Company A under the dispatch contract — with nothing in the contract, the copyright goes to the company whose direction the program was written under.
Under Japan’s Copyright Act, a program written by staff in the course of their duties, on the initiative of the one directing them, is a work made for hire: its copyright belongs to that company. Doing the design does not make Company A the author of the program.
- •Contract for work: Company B’s employees write the program under Company B’s direction, so the copyright stays with Company B unless the contract transfers it.
- •Dispatch contract: Mr. C works under Company A’s direction and orders, so the program is Company A’s work made for hire.
Answer (c)
Why not others:
- •(a) — ordering, paying for or designing the program does not give the client the copyright under a contract for work; that needs a transfer clause
- •(b) — wrong on both: the contractor keeps the copyright, and a dispatched worker writes under the client’s direction, not on his own account
- •(d) — right about the contract for work, but the program Mr. C writes under Company A’s direction is Company A’s work made for hire, not his personally
Key rule: Without a contract clause, the copyright of commissioned software stays with the contractor whose staff wrote it, while software written by a dispatched worker belongs to the client company that directs the work.
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This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.