Creatives, IP and love – what’s it all about?

A recent decision by New Zealand’s High Court has highlighted IP as a property right, which must be part of the equal division of property when a couple separate.

This can be heartbreaking if one of the couple views the IP as merely a property valuable in business, while the other has an emotional attachment to it, meaning the parties do not value the IP in the same way. Compounding the problem, the New Zealand Property (Relationships) Act 1976 calls for equal division of property by monetary value, and it can be very difficult to place a monetary value on IP rights.

Anna Kolosyuk / Unsplash

If you are in the business of creating IP which you will own (for example, copyright in original artworks), it’s important to understand that you and your lover can “contract out of” the Property (Relationships) Act, by signing an agreement. This should be considered not just by those who are getting married, but by anyone in a marriage, civil union or de facto relationship who live together for at least three years.

Other forms of IP you might own which might be subject to the Property (Relationships) Act are trade marks, patents and registered designs.