Who owns the content created by a Belocal franchisee, their Independent Staff, or Principals in connection with the Franchised Business?
Belocal Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisor is and shall be the sole and exclusive owner in perpetuity of all right, title and interest in and to the content created by Franchisee, Franchisee's Independent Staff, or Principals in connection with the Franchised Business, including without limitation all intellectual property rights.
Franchisee and Franchisee's Principals agree that (i) such content is work made for hire for Franchisor as defined in Section 101 the Copyright Act of 1975 and (ii) Franchisor is and shall be considered the sole and exclusive author of such content for all purposes.
To the extent any part of such content does not qualify as a work made for hire, Franchisee, Franchisee's Independent Staff, and Principals hereby irrevocably assign, transfer, and otherwise convey to Franchisor in perpetuity, all right, title, and interest in and to the content created in connection with the Franchised Business and waive and/or release all rights of restraint and moral rights therein and thereto.
Franchisee and Franchisee's Principals agree to assist Franchisor in obtaining and enforcing the intellectual property rights to any such content in any and all countries and further agree to execute and provide Franchisor with all necessary documentation for obtaining and enforcing such rights.
Each of Franchisee and Franchisee's Principals hereby irrevocably designates and appoints Franchisor as its or their agent and attorney-in-fact to execute and file any such documentation and to do all other lawful acts to further the prosecution and issuance intellectual property right related to any content.
In the event that the foregoing provisions of this Section 5.T. are found to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, Franchisee and Franchisee's Principals hereby grant to Franchisor a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid license to use and sublicense the use of the content to the extent such use or sublicense would, absent this Agreement, directly or indirectly, infringe Franchisee's or their rights therein.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 71)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Belocal's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Belocal is the sole and exclusive owner in perpetuity of all content created by the franchisee, the franchisee's independent staff, or the franchisee's principals in connection with the franchised business. This includes all intellectual property rights. The agreement specifies that such content is considered "work made for hire" for Belocal, as defined in Section 101 of the Copyright Act of 1975, and Belocal is considered the sole and exclusive author of the content.
To the extent that any content does not qualify as a work made for hire, the franchisee, their independent staff, and principals irrevocably assign, transfer, and convey all rights, titles, and interests in the content to Belocal in perpetuity. They also waive and release all rights of restraint and moral rights related to the content. The franchisee and their principals agree to assist Belocal in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights to the content in all countries and to provide all necessary documentation for this purpose.
Belocal is irrevocably designated as the agent and attorney-in-fact for the franchisee and their principals to execute and file any documentation and perform all lawful acts to further the prosecution and issuance of intellectual property rights related to any content. If these provisions are found invalid or unenforceable, the franchisee and principals grant Belocal a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid license to use and sublicense the content to the extent that such use would infringe on the franchisee's or their rights.