Real-World Scenarios & Access

Who legally owns the code and design if I hired a freelancer or agency to build my product?

A starting point

By default, the freelancer or agency owns the IP they create, not you, and paying the invoice does not transfer copyright automatically. You need a written work-for-hire or IP assignment clause that vests all code, designs, and deliverables in your company. Fix this now with a one-page assignment letter before an investor's due diligence finds the gap and stalls your round.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Read Use

Read

📄 Article
✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the plain-English India explainer that maps exactly to your problem: it walks through Section 17(c) (employees vest in the employer, freelancers do not) and Sections 18-19 (a valid assignment must be written, signed, and specify rights, duration, and territory), then spells out that without it a freelancer gives you only an implied license. Written by a working Indian IP firm, it closes with the investment angle, ambiguous ownership chains delaying diligence and cutting valuation, which is the exact reason to fix this before your round.

Copyright Ownership in Employment and Freelance Contracts: Key Legal Insights

From Khurana & Khurana by Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorneys 10 min read

  • Under Section 17(c) employee works vest in the employer by default, but freelancers and contractors retain copyright unless a written assignment says otherwise, and payment alone does not transfer it
  • A valid assignment under Sections 18-19 must be in writing, signed by the freelancer, and specify the rights, duration, and geographical scope, else you hold only an implied license
  • Moral rights (Section 57) stay with the author even after economic rights transfer, and a clean copyright chain is what due diligence, mergers, and acquisitions scrutinize
Open khuranaandkhurana.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it This lays out the one fact most first-time founders get wrong: under Indian copyright law your freelancer owns the code they write unless they assign it to you in writing, so no clause means no ownership. It walks through the exact assignment language you need and a smart safeguard of tying the transfer to full payment. It is written for the Indian legal context, not lifted from a US template, which is why it fits a founder here better than the generic explainers.

Freelancer Agreement in India: IP, Ownership and the Clauses That Actually Bind

From iPleaders (blog.ipleaders.in) by iPleaders ~20 min read

  • By default in India the freelancer, as author, owns the copyright in the code; without a signed written assignment you get only a limited licence, not ownership.
  • The contract needs an explicit IP assignment (or work-for-hire) clause; a handshake or an invoice does not transfer ownership.
  • Tying the IP transfer to full payment protects both sides and gives you a clean, enforceable chain of ownership.
Open blog.ipleaders.in →

Use

📋 Template
✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is a ready-to-fill IP assignment and confidentiality agreement hosted on the government's own Startup India portal, so it is drafted for Indian law and free to use. It gives a non-lawyer the actual assignment and confidentiality language to adapt for a developer and get signed. Treat it as a starting point: it is written employer to employee, so swap the party labels for a contractor engagement and, ideally, have a lawyer glance at the final version.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement Template (India)

From Startup India (startupindia.gov.in) by Startup India (Invest India) 6-page fillable template

  • A complete, fillable IP assignment plus confidentiality template with blanks for the parties, drafted for the Indian context.
  • Comes from the official Startup India (Invest India) portal, so it is a credible free base rather than a random web template.
  • Framed employee to employer, so adapt the party terms for a freelancer and, when the code really matters, run the final draft past a lawyer.
Open startupindia.gov.in →

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