Does any agreement limit Budget's right to use or license its copyrights?
Budget Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
No patents are pending that are material to Budget Franchises. Budget claims a copyright in its Manual, advertising material, and related items used in operating a Budget Franchise, whether Budget registered or unregistered with the United States Registrar of Copyrights.
You must immediately notify Budget of any actual or apparent infringement of, or challenge to, any of the copyrighted works, or any person's claim of any rights in the copyrighted works. Budget may take any action (or no action) in response to these matters and control exclusively any settlement, litigation, arbitration, administrative, or other proceeding arising out of any alleged infringement, challenge, or claim or otherwise relating to the copyrighted works. Budget has no obligation to participate in your defense or indemnify you for damages or expenses you incur if you are a party to any proceeding involving the copyrighted work. If it becomes advisable at any time in Budget's judgment for you to modify or discontinue using any of the copyrighted works and/or for you to use one or more additional or substitute copyrighted or copyrightable items, you must comply with Budget's directions. There are no effective determinations of the Copyright Office (Library of Congress), any state or any court, or any pending proceedings or litigation, regarding any of the copyrighted works. Budget has no actual knowledge of any superior prior rights to or infringements of the copyrighted works that could materially affect your use of the copyrighted works. No agreement limits Budget's right to use or license its copyrights.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 64–65)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Budget's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, no agreement limits Budget's right to use or license its copyrights. Budget claims a copyright in its Manual, advertising material, and related items used in operating a Budget Franchise, whether Budget registered or unregistered with the United States Registrar of Copyrights. As a franchisee, you must immediately notify Budget of any actual or apparent infringement of, or challenge to, any of the copyrighted works, or any person's claim of any rights in the copyrighted works.
Budget may take any action (or no action) in response to these matters and control exclusively any settlement, litigation, arbitration, administrative, or other proceeding arising out of any alleged infringement, challenge, or claim or otherwise relating to the copyrighted works. Budget has no obligation to participate in your defense or indemnify you for damages or expenses you incur if you are a party to any proceeding involving the copyrighted work.
If it becomes advisable at any time in Budget's judgment for you to modify or discontinue using any of the copyrighted works and/or for you to use one or more additional or substitute copyrighted or copyrightable items, you must comply with Budget's directions. There are no effective determinations of the Copyright Office (Library of Congress), any state or any court, or any pending proceedings or litigation, regarding any of the copyrighted works. Budget has no actual knowledge of any superior prior rights to or infringements of the copyrighted works that could materially affect your use of the copyrighted works.