Commissioning photographs, software or written content does not automatically settle every economic right or permitted use.
Applicable legislation: Civil Code of Georgia
Who owns commissioned code and design
Payment for commissioned software or design should not be assumed to transfer every economic copyright unconditionally. Define the deliverable, use rights, timing, territory, modification rights and onward assignment.
In website projects, distinguish custom code and design, open-source packages, licensed imagery and pre-existing developer components. A blanket ownership sentence cannot override third-party licence restrictions.
Relevant statutory provisionIdentify the work and intended uses
List logos, website design, source code, photos, illustrations, videos and copy; for each item document the creator, commissioning basis, licence, transfer and intended channels.
Employee versus external contractor
Employment and contractor relationships may give rise to different rights. Spell out rights granted, duration, territory, adaptation, sublicensing and transfer.
Open-source licences
Maintain a dependency and licence inventory. Some open-source licences require notices or particular source-code obligations, depending on distribution and derivative use.
Images and AI tools
Finding a photo in search is not permission for commercial reuse. Review AI service terms and image provenance; photos of identifiable people may also raise privacy and image-rights issues.
Scenario: customer asks for all source code
An agency built a site and ownership of source code is disputed. Review contractual assignment, third-party libraries, payments and acceptance; the invoice label alone is not decisive.