If the Brexit deal, ongoing Covid-19 developments and updates on the Building Safety Bill and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act isn’t enough to keep those in the construction industry on their toes, the latest guidance from HMRC is that the VAT reverse charge on construction services will commence from 1 March 2021.

We have explored various topics as part of our intellectual property in construction series. To continue our discussion, we delve into some further thoughts on other common queries that we receive. In this article we will look at: Should a copyright licence be subject to the payment of fees? What happens to a copyright licence on termination of the contract? The impact of BIM on copyright licensing strategy.

Question: What do the Oslo Picasso murals “The Seagull” and the “The Fishermen” and the Dutch De View Jaargetijden have in common? Answer: They both have been subject to recent high cost, high profile litigation that dragged on for years and which concerned moral rights.

Questions about intellectual property rights routinely arise during construction contract negotiations and serve as a refreshing reminder that COVID-19 issues are not the sole focus of negotiations at the moment. Copyright is one type of intellectual property right and is the area where we tend to encounter the most queries. This blog, the first in a series, takes a look at a few of the more common queries we regularly encounter on this topic.