Are the copyrights for Gold Star's Manual and other information registered?
Gold_Star Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Gold Star asserts copyright protection for its Manual and other information and materials regarding Gold Star's System, which are not registered. You are not necessarily licensed to use these copyrights, but you are licensed to use the Manual and certain confidential information and materials during the term of the Franchise Agreement as part of the Confidential Material described in this Item 14.
There are no current determinations of the United States Copyright Office (Library of Congress) or any court regarding the copyrights, and there are no currently effective agreements that significantly limit the rights of Gold Star to use or license the use of the items for which copyright protection is asserted in any manner material to the Franchise.
Gold Star asserts trade secret protection for information contained in the Manual and other information about its chili products, recipes and formulations, the System and the Business (the "Confidential Material"), and pursuant to the Franchise Agreement you agree that the Confidential Material constitutes proprietary highly confidential trade secrets and that you will not use any of the Confidential Material except as necessary in the operation of the Franchise business in accordance with the Franchise Agreement. You also agree that you will not disclose, duplicate, license, sell or reveal any of the Confidential Material to any person, other than disclosure to one or more of your employees to the extent that the employee is required by his/her work in accordance with the Franchise Agreement to be familiar with relevant Confidential Material. You agree to keep confidential the Confidential Material, to obtain from each of your partners, shareholders, officers, directors, employees and agents an agreement to keep and respect these confidences and to be responsible for compliance by all of those persons with those agreements.
You must advise Gold Star promptly in writing if you learn of any claims made regarding, or unauthorized use of, any Confidential Material, whether by a Related Party or a third party. Gold Star is not obligated to take any action, but may take any action it deems appropriate. Gold Star is not obligated to indemnify you for expenses or damages in a proceeding involving any of the Confidential Information.
Source: Item 14 — Patents, Copyrights, and Proprietary Information (FDD pages 40–41)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Gold Star's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Gold Star asserts copyright protection for its Manual and other information and materials regarding the Gold Star system, but these copyrights are not registered. As a franchisee, you are licensed to use the Manual and certain confidential information during the term of the Franchise Agreement. Gold Star also asserts trade secret protection for information contained in the Manual and other information about its chili products, recipes and formulations, the System and the Business.
As a Gold Star franchisee, you must agree that this Confidential Material constitutes proprietary and highly confidential trade secrets. You are only allowed to use this material as necessary to operate your franchise business according to the Franchise Agreement. You are also prohibited from disclosing, duplicating, licensing, selling, or revealing any of the Confidential Material to anyone, except to employees who need to know it for their work, and you must ensure those employees also agree to keep the information confidential.
The Franchise Agreement also stipulates that you cannot contest the validity or enforceability of Gold Star's copyrights or their right to register, use, or franchise the Confidential Material or System. If Gold Star requires you to modify or discontinue the use of any item included in the Manual or other Confidential Information, you must do so at your own expense. You must also inform Gold Star promptly if you become aware of any claims or unauthorized use of the Confidential Material.
While Gold Star is not obligated to take any action regarding such claims or unauthorized use, nor are they obligated to indemnify you for expenses or damages related to the Confidential Information, these terms are fairly standard in franchising. Many franchisors rely on both copyright and trade secret protection for their operating manuals and systems, and franchisees are typically bound by strict confidentiality agreements.