What is the Architect's responsibility to Epcon Communities regarding prior assignments of the Work?

According to the 2025 Epcon Communities Franchise Disclosure Document, if any other party has any right, title, or interest in the Works, the Architect is responsible for obtaining all rights and assigning such rights to Epcon Communities. This ensures that Epcon Communities will be the exclusive owner of the copyright and all rights associated with it, allowing them to exercise all rights of the copyright owner. This includes all exclusive rights as outlined in 17 U.S.C. Sec. 106.

This requirement is intended to consolidate the intellectual property rights related to the architectural works under Epcon Communities' ownership. This allows Epcon Communities to protect its designs and development system. It also gives them the sole authority to manage, modify, and commercialize the Works as they see fit.

For a prospective Epcon Communities franchisee, this means that any architect they engage must ensure that all prior rights to the architectural designs are properly assigned to Epcon Communities. This is to avoid any potential legal issues or disputes over intellectual property rights. The franchisee should ensure that their architects are aware of this requirement and are prepared to fulfill it.

This requirement also protects the franchisee, Epcon Communities, and Epcon Communities' clients from any losses, damages, or expenses, including attorney's fees, resulting from a breach of the architect's representations and warranties. The architect also warrants that they have identified all persons and entities who have worked on the Work, each Work is or will be the original work of Architect and/or its agents who have executed valid assignments of rights to Architect, subject to the rights of Epcon in the Epcon Works.