Under the Southern Steer franchise agreement, who owns the copyrighted materials created by the franchisee?
Southern_Steer Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- 15.7.
Improvements.
Franchisee will promptly disclose to Franchisor any changes, improvements, enhancements, advertisements or other marketing materials, inventions, discoveries, creations, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and confidential information relating to Franchisee's Southern Steer Business which Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, agents, affiliates, Designated Managers, or independent contractors has made or may make solely, jointly, or commonly with others ("Improvements").
Franchisee will promptly create a written record of the same.
Any changes, improvements, or enhancements made to the Southern Steer Business or the Marks, System, Confidential Information, Trade Secrets, Brand Manual, Website and other proprietary information provided to Franchisee by Franchisor made by Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, Designated Managers or independent contractors or as the result of suggestions or other input from Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, Designated Managers or independent contractors including without limitation, all copyrightable works, will become part of the Marks, System, Confidential Information, Trade Secrets, Brand Manual, Website and Franchisor's proprietary information owned by Franchisor without any rights of ownership by Franchisee.
Franchisee hereby assigns all proprietary rights described in this Section 15.7 to Franchisor without additional consideration.
Source: Item 22 — ITEM. 22 CONTRACTS (FDD pages 61–168)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Southern Steer's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, any improvements, enhancements, or changes made to the Southern Steer Business, Marks, System, Confidential Information, Trade Secrets, Brand Manual, Website, and other proprietary information provided to the franchisee by Southern Steer, including all copyrightable works, will become the property of Southern Steer. This applies regardless of whether these improvements are made by the franchisee, their owners, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, Designated Managers, or independent contractors, or result from suggestions or other input from them.
This means that if a franchisee develops any new marketing materials, recipes, or operational methods that enhance the Southern Steer business, those creations, including their copyrights, automatically become the property of Southern Steer. The franchisee essentially assigns all proprietary rights to these improvements to Southern Steer without receiving any additional compensation.
This clause is significant for prospective franchisees as it clarifies that while franchisees can contribute to the Southern Steer system, they will not retain ownership of any intellectual property they develop in relation to the business. This is a fairly standard practice in franchising, as it allows the franchisor to maintain consistent branding and operational standards across all locations, and to benefit from improvements made by individual franchisees by incorporating them into the broader system. Franchisees should be aware of this when considering investing in the Southern Steer franchise.