Outsourcing and who owns the work
A studio for the plants
Shard Garden needs 300 plants, each drawn at three stages of growth. The studio's two artists would need a year. Remy finds an art outsourcing studio in another country that can deliver them in four months.
Outsourcing means paying another company to make part of the game. The work is theirs to make, so the contract decides whose it becomes.
Who owns it first?
The UK government's copyright guide says that when you commission work, "the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organisation that created the work and not you the commissioner, unless you otherwise agree it in writing."
The outsourcer's artists are its employees, and an employer is the first owner of what its employees make for the job. So the plants belong first to the outsourcing studio.
Quick check
An artist at the outsourcing studio draws the plants as part of the job. There is no written agreement about copyright. Who owns the plants first?
- The outsourcing studio, as the artist's employer
- Kai and Remy's studio, because it paid
- The artist personally
Show the answer
The outsourcing studio, as the artist's employer
Work made by an employee for the job belongs first to the employer, and paying for commissioned work does not move ownership unless it is agreed in writing.
Silence is not ownership
If the contract says nothing about copyright, the guide says courts may find "an implied licence allowing the commissioner to use the work for the purpose for which it was commissioned". Then "the commissioner of the work may only get a limited non-exclusive licence."
The plants could be fine in Shard Garden, and not in a sequel, a plush toy or a trailer for another game.
Every link in the chain
The outsourcer may hire freelancers too, and each of them owns their own work first. So the contract says the outsourcer gets the rights from everyone who works on Shard Garden, then assigns all of it to the studio.
The guide adds that an employer "should keep careful records of which person(s) created the work". Publishers ask for those records before they sign.
Fix the contract
11. 300 plants, 3 stages22. Paid per milestone33. Studio may use the4 art in Shard Garden54. Delivery: 4 months
Which item must Remy change before signing?
- Item 3: assign all rights to the studio, for every use
- Item 2: pay everything up front
- Item 4: deliver in one month
Show the answer
Item 3: assign all rights to the studio, for every use
Item 3 is a licence for one game, not ownership. A sequel, toys or a film would need a new deal with the outsourcer. An assignment of every right fixes it.
Working with an outsourcer
- A style guideSample plants, colours and sizes, so 300 new plants match the 10 the team drew.
- Acceptance testsEach milestone says how the team checks the work before it pays.
- Keep the coreHow the garden feels to play stays in the studio: build what makes you special.
Made together
The guide gives one more case: a person commissioned to make something "together with one of the company's employees". Then both "would be joint first owners".
When the studio's own artist paints over the outsourcer's sketches, the contract has to cover that shared work too.
Quick check
If the contract says nothing about copyright, the studio that paid owns the art.
- True
- False
Show the answer
False
The maker owns it first. Without a written assignment, the studio that paid may get only a limited licence to use it for the game it was made for.
On the studio board
The studio adds a decision to the board:
Outsourcing: every contract assigns all rights, from everyone who works on it. Theo keeps the record of who made what.
Bolt says: Next: prototype the hard part first.
Fact-checked 12 October 2026
- GOV.UK: Ownership of copyright works gov.uk