Who Owns Your Logo After You’ve Paid for It?

It’s one of the most common—and expensive—surprises in brand design.

You paid for your logo.

You’ve been using it for a year.

Now you want to register it as a trademark, print merchandise, or ask another designer to update it.

That’s when you discover you may never have had the legal right to do any of those things.

Paying doesn’t mean owning

The principle is counterintuitive but well established under French copyright law.

The creator of a work remains the owner of its economic rights—even after being paid—unless those rights are transferred through a written assignment.

In other words:

Without a written copyright assignment, the designer generally remains the legal owner of the logo they created for you.

You paid for a service.

You did not necessarily purchase ownership.

This isn’t just a legal technicality.

It determines what you’re actually allowed to do with your own brand.

What a copyright assignment should include

A proper assignment doesn’t simply say, “The rights are transferred.”

It should clearly specify four things.

The rights being transferred.

Reproduction, public display, adaptation, and modification. If adaptation rights aren’t transferred, you may not legally be allowed to modify your own logo—even by hiring another designer.

The permitted media and uses.

Digital, print, merchandise, signage, vehicle graphics, and more. If the assignment only covers online use, you’ll face problems the day you want to print packaging or promotional materials.

The duration.

Ideally, for the full legal term of copyright protection. A three-year assignment eventually expires.

The territory.

Worldwide, if there’s any chance you’ll do business internationally. A transfer limited to one country becomes restrictive the moment you expand abroad.

If any of these four elements are missing, the assignment is only partial.

Everything not explicitly transferred remains with the original creator.

Moral rights cannot be transferred

There’s another point that surprises many business owners.

In France, an author’s moral rights cannot be sold or assigned.

They always retain the right to be recognized as the creator of the work and to object to changes that seriously affect its integrity.

In practice, this rarely causes issues in a healthy client relationship.

However, substantial alterations made by another designer could theoretically be challenged.

That’s another reason why the right to adapt and modify the work should be clearly addressed in your contract.

Why this matters when registering a trademark

When you register your logo as a trademark, the trademark office considers you the owner.

But if someone else still owns the underlying copyright, your registration rests on shaky legal ground.

A designer who never transferred their rights may be able to challenge your use.

It’s uncommon—but the consequences can be severe.

An invalid trademark registration could mean starting over after you’ve already built your brand around it.

That’s exactly why buyers and investors routinely request copyright assignment agreements during due diligence.

A brand with an incomplete chain of ownership is worth less.

Agencies and subcontractors

If you hire a branding agency that works with freelance designers, the issue becomes even more important.

The agency must first obtain the copyright assignment from the freelance designer before it can transfer those rights to you.

You can’t transfer rights you don’t own.

It’s perfectly reasonable to ask:

“Have your designers assigned their rights to your agency in writing?”

A professional agency will answer immediately.

One that avoids the question may have an incomplete chain of ownership—and you’ll inherit the legal risk.

What you should request

Before paying, ask for written confirmation of:

• A copyright assignment covering reproduction, public display, adaptation, and modification.
• No limitations on media, duration, or territory.
• Confirmation that the provider actually owns the rights they are transferring.
• Delivery of the editable vector source files.

A professional designer loses nothing by providing these.

Hesitation or vague answers are warning signs.

Our approach

We transfer all economic rights upon delivery, with no restrictions on media, duration, or territory.

It’s written into our terms—not just promised on a sales page.

Our designers assign their rights to us through written agreements before any client project begins, allowing us to transfer those rights to you with complete legal certainty.

Editable source files are included with every package.

You can register your trademark, update your branding, or work with another designer in the future.

Because it’s yours.