A creator was hired to create a promotional video for an educational institution who paid an advance on account of the work. After the educational institution was not satisfied with the products, the relationship between the parties was severed and the educational institution made use of the unfinished video.
The Court held that the copyright in the video was transferred to the educational institution and therefore there was no copyright infringement. Under Israeli law, unless otherwise stated in the agreements between the parties, the copyright in a commissioned work belongs to the creator. However, the parties are entitled to condition on this and when it comes to a work that is the result of joint work of the creator and the customer, the customer also has ownership in the work as a joint creator. Here, the client provided the creator with a concept, script and instructions that make him a co-creator. In addition, in the exchange of agreements between the parties, the clause that indicated that the copyright will only be released after receipt of the payment in full was intentionally removed, a fact that indicates that the parties expressly agreed that the customer would have a right to the commissioned work without any conditions, and therefore the client was entitled to use it and such use does not constitute an infringement of the creator’s copyright.