In this episode, we dive into the topic of using intellectual property in your business. Have you ever wondered if you can use a certain asset or if you truly own what you think you own? 

We explore the importance of ownership and how it relates to asset creation and leverage. Plus, we discuss different sources of intellectual property and the various uses for it.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

• Ownership is the key to asset creation and leverage. Understanding whether you own the intellectual property you use is crucial for your business's success.
• You can use intellectual property that you don't own, but it's important to understand the restrictions and permissions associated with those assets. This includes materials from third parties, clients, and the Internet.
• Sources of intellectual property in your business can include creations by you, your employees, contractors, and even non-documentary sources like chat platforms. Knowing where your IP comes from helps determine how you can use it.

To learn more about using intellectual property in your business and leveraging it effectively, be sure to tune in to this episode of the Hourly to Exit podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to our email list to access additional resources on this topic.

Happy listening and happy leveraging! 🚀

Connect with Erin to learn how to use intellectual property to increase your income and impact. hourlytoexit.com/podcast.

Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music

A Team Dklutr production

Hello, ladies.

Welcome to the

Hourly Dexit Podcast.

Today, we're going

to talk about whether

or not you can use an

intellectual property asset.

as you know, I say

that IP is everywhere.

We make it all day, every day.

As an expert, every time

you use your intellect,

you are probably creating

intellectual property.

The issue is, do you own it?

I like to ask, do you own

what you think you own Cause

ownership is the key to asset

creation and asset creation

is the key to leverage.

That means you're able to

decouple your income and

your impact from your time.

A closely related to

the issue of ownership.

Is use.

So you may have or have

access to an asset and wonder

whether or not you can use it.

And yes, ownership is key

to answering the question to

whether or not you can use it.

That is the right

question to ask.

I sometimes get this

question in the form of,

you can I use this book?

In my course, can I create

a workshop out of it?

Can I, make

worksheets out of it?

and so this will be a

conversation about how

you can use intellectual

property in your business.

Certainly, when you own

it, but also when you

don't own it, because,

of course, there is lots

of intellectual property

that flows through our

business that we do not own.

So we need to understand

how we can use IP

that we don't own.

So, you know, that there is a.

Symbol graphic that goes

with this conversation.

It visualizes the categories

of sources of intellectual

property and uses of

intellectual property

that I will be discussing.

you can find a link to that

graphic in the show notes.

It is also available in my

library of free resources

that are available to

subscribers at my email list.

So, lots of good stuff there.

So I do.

Of course, highly recommend

you get on my email list.

So now let's dig in.

So first, let's talk about the

sources of the intellectual

property that flow through

your business and what we

own and therefore what we

can use or how we can use

it depends upon the source.

So the sources first, you,

things that you create.

Your employees, and by that

I mean your W 2 employees,

you're paying the employment

taxes, you're withholding

taxes and paying them.

Third, contractors.

So, these are the other

people that are not your

W 2 employees, and it

doesn't how long you work

with your contractors, how

wonderful the relationship

is, if you're not issuing

them W 2s, then they are

not employees and they fall

under the contractor bucket.

So we have 2 types of

contractors, those who work

with a signed agreement

and those who work without

a signed agreement.

And then we have other

3rd party materials.

They may be your

clients materials.

things that you have licensed

to you where you're the

licensee and there are other

sources, such as the Internet

or chat and things like that.

So these are kind of

undocumented sources.

And then the uses, I

put uses in 5 buckets,

tools, marketing, client

work, products and exit.

So those are things that you

would be able to transfer

when you sold your business.

So tools, those are any

internal resources that

you use to do the work.

This could be productivity

software, your CRM,

certification materials,

books, databases,

frameworks, SOPs.

Marketing.

These include any materials

created for public

use but not for sale.

These include lead magnets,

white papers, your website,

webinars and speeches,

social media, posts,

podcast episodes, email

newsletters, client work.

So those are the deliverables

from the services you

provide to your clients

under a services agreement.

Products, anything for non

internal use that is for sale,

including books, software,

courses, training programs,

licensed products, meaning

where you're the licensor,

such as, train the trainer

type of licensing program

and exit that refers to what

happens to the IP in the event

of the sale of your business.

Could the IP asset be

transferred to the buyer?

So now we're going to talk

about the unrestricted

use of the assets and

restricted use of assets.

So first, anything that

you own, that you have the

unrestricted rights to,

you can use for all Or any

of those five buckets of

tools, marketing, client

work products and exit.

So let's review what

you own that you have

unrestricted rights to.

So you own anything

that is original.

So it wasn't based on

somebody else's work

and was created outside

of a client engagement.

We'll talk about the

client engagement later.

That's going to

be restricted use.

so those could be created

by you, of course, by

your W2 employees, you

automatically own by law,

the things that are created

by your W2 employees in the

course of their employment.

So that would be whether

or not they've signed an

employment agreement, and

then by a contractor, but

the contractor must have

signed a services agreement

that grant you all the

rights and the deliverables.

And there is some magic

language that you need in

your services agreement, work

for hire language, assignment

of all rights to the extent

it's not work for hire.

And to the extent that it

is a license materials,

sometimes contractors

have their pre existing

materials, then making sure

that you have a license to

do whatever you need to do

with those deliverables.

I'm reading this, I'm

thinking about whether or

not I've done, A episode

about services agreements

that I don't think I have.

So I think that will

be the next one.

in each instance created

by you, created by your

W2 employees, created by

a contractor who signed

a services agreement that

granted you all rights in

the deliverables, you are

the copyright owner and you

have unrestricted rights

to use it for all purposes,

tools, marketing, client

work, products, and exit.

So the exception would be.

If for some reason against

my strongest advice, you

have granted some rights to

a third party, such as some

restricted uses in connection.

Usually this happens

with non competes.

So you own something

It's your expertise.

You developed it, you own it.

And then you agree to a

non compete in the client

agreement, which basically

tells you how you can use your

intellectual property asset.

You wouldn't let someone tell

you how you can use your car,

how you can use your house.

Don't let anybody tell you how

you can use your IP assets.

All right.

Restricted use.

So if you aren't the

exclusive copyright owner,

there are restrictions on

how you can use that asset

and your permitted use

typically will be set forth

in a written agreement, or

it may be deemed through

intellectual property law in

the absence of an agreement.

here are sources where you

do not own the copyright

and how you use the IP must

be determined on a case

by case basis by either

the contract or IP law.

So those are client

deliverables, whether created

by you, your employees,

or your contractors with

a route signed agreement.

agreement will dictate

who owns the deliverable.

Typically, a client will want

to own as much as they can.

And if you're signing,

whatever they send you without

looking at it, they're going

to own 100 percent of those

deliverables and they might

even own some of your pre

existing materials as well.

So you always want

to make sure that you

understand what's there.

Your contractors without

a signed agreement.

I'm gonna explain

why that would be

restricted in a minute.

And then third party

materials such as those

where you're the licensee, so

obviously you don't own it.

The Licenseor owns the ip, the

licensee has permission to use

the ip, and then other sources

like the internet, et cetera.

going back to the client

work, as you know, it was

in the, use category above

where, own an asset, you can

use it with your clients.

You have the permission to

use it however you want,

including with client work,

and you can grant them rights

in the IP that you own.

But it also can be a source

of intellectual property.

You as the expert.

May be commissioned to

create the asset for a

client and so you are

actually creating the asset.

But if you have assuming

that you have a sign client

agreement that vests the

rights in that deliverable to

the client, you do not own it.

And so when the services

agreement says the

client owns it, that.

Means you don't have the

rights to reuse that or

use it with other clients.

you would need permission

from the client to use

any client deliverable

for any other purpose.

often, the client engagement

will say that that

deliverable is confidential

information of the client.

So you cannot use it or

you cannot disclose it,

for any other purpose.

Any purpose other than

connection with that

engagement with that client.

So you need to make sure

you are aware of what

your client agreements say

contractor deliverables.

If you hire a contractor

to create deliverables

for you in this instance,

you're the end client.

Like you're the client

you're asking it.

Them to create it for

you, or it could be that

there are subcontractor.

You have an end client and

there's some piece of that

engagement that you need

to hire subcontractor for

what you own will depend

on the existence of.

And the language in the

services agreement, you

enter with the contractor,

first, you know, always,

always, always have

a written agreement.

if you have a written

agreement and it includes

that very important work

for hire and assignment

language, then you own it.

if it's subcontracted,

then the client work

rules would apply.

So I'm going to explain that.

let's say you're

the end client.

You hire a contractor to

write some copy for your

website, and you have a

written agreement that

says everything that they

write, you're going to own.

So you will be the

Copyright owner.

And you can do whatever you

want to with that website

copy because you own it.

You can use it in

marketing materials.

You can use it

in your webinars.

You can use it in a book

that you write someday.

that's yours.

Now let's say it's.

Subcontracted.

let's say you're a web

designer, you're a web

designer and your, client

also wanted you to, create

some niche thing that

needs a little bit of

programming, to make it work.

And so Your client agreement

says that they will own all

of the deliverables and then

you subcontract the programing

piece to a subcontractor.

You need to make sure that

you're getting all the rights

from that subcontractor via.

A written agreement with

the magic work for hire

assignment language, and

then that would flow right

through you to the client.

So those rights wouldn't

even stop with you.

They'd flow right through

you to the client.

You get in trouble, of

course, if you don't have

that agreement with the

subcontractor and the client,

your client agreement says

that you need to deliver 100

percent of the rights to the

client, then you are in breach

of your client agreement.

again.

Always be mindful of

written agreements whenever

intellectual property and

whether or not you think

of it that way or not,

whenever deliverables are

being created by experts,

you want to make sure that

they're written agreements

that tell you who owns the

deliverables.

So, if there is no

written agreement, the

contractor owns it.

if no written agreement.

The human being who creates

a copyrightable material is

the copyright owner, unless

they're your employee or you

have a written agreement.

So that contract will own it.

If you don't have a written

agreement, what you would

have is a non-exclusive

license to use it.

So that's kind of the

default under IP law.

And in this case, the

contractor is the license or

the licensors, the party who

owns the IP and you are the

licensee, the person who has

permission to use the IP,

but you are not the owner.

you have a not exclusive

license and not ownership

in that piece of IP, that

means the license or.

in other words, the contractor

remains free to exploit the

same intellectual property and

to allow any number of other

licensees to also exploit that

same intellectual property.

So, if you want to get

exclusive rights, or you

want to own it outright

must be in writing.

All right.

The last source would be

third party materials.

So where might these

come from, from your

former employer?

know, a lot of us come

out of corporate and we

do work similar to what

we were doing in house.

And maybe there are some

things that you created there

as an employee, but as an

employee, anything you create

is owned by the employer.

So anything you take from

your former employer is owned

by your former employer.

We get stuff off the internet.

We all do it.

but we got to think about

how we're going to use it.

All the things that we got off

of the internet, you may go

to a conference and they hand

out these great materials.

You may go to a training and

you get these great materials.

Those are all third

party materials.

You do not own those.

And so you need to

understand what rights

you have to use them.

we talked about the

implied license in the

contract of context when

you don't have a written

agreement, but we also have

explicit written licenses.

we enter these all the

time, with your software

that you use your

website host, maybe you,

Have a certification,

typically certifications

will give you a license

to use some of their

materials with your clients.

maybe there's an assessment

tool that you get to use

or evaluation tool that you

get to use and that is owned

by the certifying entity

and you as a participant

have a license to use it,

but that license Usually,

we'll have restrictions

on how you can use it.

it will be a non

exclusive license.

Typically, these

are all typical.

Obviously, every license

is different because there

are contracts and every

contract is different.

But typically, under these

circumstances, you will have

a non exclusive license and

that you will not have the

right to sub license it.

And so, if you, get that

valuation tool from, you

are certified, by, Institute

of management consultants,

and you have a CMC, and

they provide tools for you.

That does not mean

that you can then use

those tools to create.

Other materials that you're

going to sell to 3rd parties

are licensed to 3rd parties.

So those 3rd party materials,

how you can use them.

Typically, the

use is restricted.

and so you will have to look

on a case by case basis.

How you can use them

in those 5 buckets?

can you use it as a tool?

I mean, maybe it's,

licensed to you as a tool.

So obviously you can use it.

Can you use it in your

marketing if it's something

that is for internal use

only, and they don't give

you permission to use it in

your marketing materials.

Like, you can't

say I, use this.

you can't put it in your

marketing that you are using

this tool that you got from

a 3rd party, then you can't

use it in your marketing.

typically you

can use tools in.

Client work, but, there may

be restrictions if your client

wants to own the deliverable

and you're using something

that you only have a non

exclusive license to, then

that would be problematic.

I mean, that

would be the case.

Let's say you are creating a

website for someone and you

put photographs on there that

you don't own the rights to,

or that you can't get it.

a perpetual rights to that

is something that only, you

can only use for 1 year for

and renewing license fee.

Your client's going to be

very unhappy that you've

delivered this work that it

wanted to own a 100%, but

you have these short term

license materials in there.

typically you can't

use license materials

and products.

products would only be

things that you own.

possible that you have

the right to, sub license.

Some of those things.

Let's say you are

creating a book, for

instance, and you have.

gotten permission from

a third party to use a

graphic that they have

that has, data on it.

And you want to include that

in your book and you would go

to them and get permission.

That's what a license is.

I want permission to use

this graphic in my book.

It may or may

not be for a fee.

Typically it would be for a

fee if you're making money.

They should make money.

but, in any case that you

would need to make sure that

you have the rights to that.

That's not something you can

do without getting permission.

And then with the exit,

it would depend again

on the nature of the

permission to use it.

Some things are transferable.

Like, if you have a

software license, that

you typically, you can

assign it to the acquirer

of your entire business,

but there are other things

where someone's providing.

something that is specific

to you, and they would

not want you to be able

to assign rights in that

item to an acquirer.

So that really again,

the value would be

in the things that.

Can be transferred to a

buyer and those would be the

things typically that you

own or things that you have a

license that is transferable.

but that would be

restricted and you want

to make sure that you,

understand the uses there.

So, this brings

us to fair use.

I'm not going to spend

a ton of time on this

because fair use.

Very simply, it is a defense.

It is not an affirmative right

to use somebody else's I.

P.

A license is an affirmative

right to use an I.

P.

I license or owner of the I.

P.

give you permission

licensee to use this

piece of this asset.

Fair use would be, If it is

deemed to be fair use after

an analysis by a federal

court that it's fair use, then

it would not be considered.

An infringement.

Well, that means you have

to go through the process,

if you have an objection,

you might use something for

fair use and the copyright

owner goes, yeah, it looks

fair to me and they don't

they're fine with it.

They're not offended by it.

And it's fine.

It's fair use.

But if they are the

only way say that Nope,

it's not infringement.

It was fair use.

Well, that requires a

lawsuit in federal court

and nobody wants to do that.

So, I would be very,

very careful about

relying on fair use.

obviously things like.

The nature of the work

that you're used to.

It's something that's kind

of historic facts, is less

offensive than something

that's highly creative.

I'm using something that

you're taking a teeny tiny

portion of is less offensive

than using something.

That's like the most

recognizable part of the work.

if you do something that would

effectively replace, the.

Original owners work, like,

creating a summary of a book.

now they don't have to

buy the owner's book.

that's obviously not

going to be fair use.

And so just so we're

clear, what will never be

considered fair use is.

Providing credit

to the source.

that is not the same

thing as permission.

And so, giving the owner a

link or an acknowledgement

doesn't matter.

That would still be

infringement if it's not a

fair use and any disclaimers

that you didn't intend to

commit copyright infringement.

Except you did.

So if you have any questions

about whether you can

use somebody else's work,

book and ask Aaron call.

I look forward to

hearing from you.

Thanks guys.