For a Southern Steer franchise, does the definition of 'Copyrighted Material' include agreements?
Southern_Steer Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- 30.10.
Copyrighted Materials. "Copyrighted Materials" means all manuals, the Brand Manual, System, logos, designs, marketing materials, layouts of advertising materials, copyrights, writings, recordings, binders, videos, Website content, other web content, electronic files, agreements, forms, books, software and printed materials, etc. including all revisions, changes, modifications and derivatives of or to any of the foregoing, related to the Southern Steer Business or provided to Franchisee by Franchisor, its designees or its Affiliates, including all additions, modifications, derivatives, alterations and improvements thereto.
- 30.11.
Source: Item 22 — ITEM. 22 CONTRACTS (FDD pages 61–168)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Southern Steer's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the definition of "Copyrighted Materials" does include agreements. This means that Southern Steer considers agreements, along with other items, to be proprietary and protected under copyright law.
For a prospective franchisee, this means that the agreements provided by Southern Steer, such as the franchise agreement itself, are legally protected intellectual property. Franchisees are not allowed to reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from these agreements without explicit permission from Southern Steer. This protection extends to all revisions, changes, modifications, and derivatives related to the Southern Steer business.
This is a fairly standard practice in franchising, as franchisors need to protect their brand identity, operational methods, and other proprietary information. By including agreements in the definition of Copyrighted Materials, Southern Steer reinforces its legal rights and ability to control the use and distribution of its business system and related documents.