{"id":397,"date":"2026-09-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/copyright-due-diligence-cross-border-deals\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:00:00","slug":"copyright-due-diligence-cross-border-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/blog\/copyright-due-diligence-cross-border-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright due diligence for cross-border deals: code, open source, content"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Copyright due diligence checks whether the company you are buying or investing in actually owns, or validly licenses, the software and content its business runs on. In cross-border deals the three recurring problems are code written by contractors without a written assignment, open source licences whose conditions have not been met, and content licences limited in time, territory or use. This guide, with Spain and Mexico as worked examples, is for anyone preparing a transaction between the EU and Latin America.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>EU law gives the employer the economic rights in software written by employees, unless the contract says otherwise. There is no equivalent rule for freelancers.<\/li>\n<li>Spain and Mexico both require <strong>assignments in writing<\/strong>; in Mexico a transfer that is not in writing is void.<\/li>\n<li>Silent assignments are limited: five years by default in both countries, and in Spain to the country where the assignment was made.<\/li>\n<li>Open source is not a problem in itself; unmet licence conditions are, especially copyleft licences such as the GPL and AGPL.<\/li>\n<li>Most defects can be fixed before closing with confirmatory assignments, licence remediation and targeted warranties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What does copyright due diligence cover in a cross-border deal?<\/h2>\n<p>In a share deal, an asset purchase or an investment round, copyright review usually covers four blocks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Proprietary software: source code, object code and preparatory design material, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/eudr\/2009\/24\/article\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 1 of Directive 2009\/24\/EC<\/a> protects as literary works when they are the author&#8217;s own intellectual creation.<\/li>\n<li>Third-party and open source components embedded in that software.<\/li>\n<li>Content: websites, apps, photographs, video, music, fonts, documentation and marketing material.<\/li>\n<li>The contracts that move those rights: employment contracts, contractor and agency agreements, licences in and out, and any earlier acquisitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The question in each block is the same: can the target prove a complete chain of title from the person who created the work to the company, covering the uses, countries and period the business needs? Copyright arises without registration, so the evidence is contractual. If the paper is missing, the right may sit with an individual who left years ago.<\/p>\n<h2>Who owns the code? Employees and contractors in the EU and Mexico<\/h2>\n<p>Ownership rules differ by jurisdiction and by who wrote the work. The table compares the EU framework, Spain and Mexico.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Issue<\/th>\n<th>EU \/ Spain<\/th>\n<th>Mexico<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Software by employees<\/td>\n<td>Employer holds the economic rights unless the contract says otherwise (Directive 2009\/24, Art. 2(3); Spanish Copyright Act, Art. 97(4))<\/td>\n<td>Employer holds the economic rights unless agreed otherwise (Federal Copyright Law, LFDA, Art. 103)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Other works by employees<\/td>\n<td>Absent a written agreement, an exclusive assignment is presumed only to the extent needed for the employer&#8217;s usual business (Art. 51)<\/td>\n<td>With a written employment contract, rights are presumed shared equally; without one, they stay with the employee (Art. 84)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Contractors and agencies<\/td>\n<td>No statutory transfer: rights move only by contract, which must be in writing (Art. 45)<\/td>\n<td>The commissioning party holds the economic rights unless agreed otherwise, but the contract terms must be clear and precise (Arts. 83 and 83 bis)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Form<\/td>\n<td>Every assignment must be in writing (Art. 45)<\/td>\n<td>Transfers and licences must be in writing or are void (Art. 30)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Term if not stated<\/td>\n<td>Five years; territory limited to the country of assignment (Art. 43(2))<\/td>\n<td>Five years (Art. 33); no time limit for software assignments (Art. 103)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Effect against third parties<\/td>\n<td>No registration requirement<\/td>\n<td>Transfers must be recorded in the Public Copyright Register (Art. 32)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/eudr\/2009\/24\/article\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Directive 2009\/24\/EC, Art. 2<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boe.es\/buscar\/act.php?id=BOE-A-1996-8930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spanish Copyright Act (TRLPI)<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diputados.gob.mx\/LeyesBiblio\/pdf\/LFDA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mexican Federal Copyright Law<\/a>, consolidated text including the reform of 14 May 2026.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, the weak point is almost always the freelancer or the development agency. Founders who coded before incorporation are another: until they assign, the company does not own what they wrote.<\/p>\n<h2>How to review open source licences in a target&#8217;s code<\/h2>\n<p>A software composition scan lists the components and their licences; the legal review then checks whether the way the target distributes or hosts its product meets each licence. Asking for a software bill of materials (SBOM) in the <a href=\"https:\/\/spdx.dev\/about\/overview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SPDX format, recognised as ISO\/IEC 5962:2021<\/a>, speeds this up.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Licence<\/th>\n<th>Main condition<\/th>\n<th>What it means for the deal<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.org\/license\/mit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MIT<\/a><\/td>\n<td>Keep the copyright and permission notice in all copies or substantial portions<\/td>\n<td>Low risk; check that notices are reproduced<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apache.org\/licenses\/LICENSE-2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apache 2.0<\/a><\/td>\n<td>Include the licence and NOTICE file and flag changes; patent licence ends if the licensee sues over the work<\/td>\n<td>Low to moderate; check notices and patent litigation strategy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/gpl-3.0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GPL v3<\/a><\/td>\n<td>A work based on the program that is conveyed must be licensed as a whole under the GPL, with corresponding source<\/td>\n<td>High if linked into distributed proprietary code<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/agpl-3.0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AGPL v3<\/a><\/td>\n<td>Users interacting with a modified version over a network must be offered its source<\/td>\n<td>High for SaaS products built on modified AGPL code<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Breach of the GPL v3 terminates the licence automatically, although section 8 allows reinstatement once the violation stops. That is why a non-compliant component found in diligence is a remediation item with a deadline, not a footnote.<\/p>\n<h2>Content licences and the chain of title<\/h2>\n<p>Stock images, fonts, music in videos and agency-produced campaigns are often licensed, not owned. Check each licence for scope of use, territory, duration, sublicensing and whether it survives a change of control or an assignment to the buyer. Under Spanish law an assignment covers only the exploitation methods expressly provided for and does not reach methods unknown when it was granted (TRLPI, Art. 43). A content library assembled in Spain and later used across Latin America may not carry the rights the business plan assumes.<\/p>\n<h2>Copyright due diligence checklist<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>List core products and the repositories, content libraries and domains behind them.<\/li>\n<li>Collect employment contracts and IP clauses for everyone who contributed, by country.<\/li>\n<li>Collect contractor, agency and founder assignments; check that they are written, signed and cover the relevant works.<\/li>\n<li>Obtain an SBOM or scan, and review copyleft components against the distribution and hosting model.<\/li>\n<li>Review inbound licences for content, data and third-party software: scope, term, territory, change of control.<\/li>\n<li>Review outbound licences and customer contracts for exclusivities or source code escrow.<\/li>\n<li>Check registrations and recorded transfers where they matter, such as Mexico.<\/li>\n<li>Map each gap to a fix: confirmatory assignment, replacement component, new licence, warranty or indemnity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>What this means for your business<\/h2>\n<p>For buyers and investors, start the copyright review with the products that drive valuation and agree a remediation list before signing, with the critical items as conditions to closing. For sellers, a pre-sale audit avoids price discounts and specific indemnities: missing assignments are easier to obtain from a cooperative former contractor now than under deal pressure. In the corridor between Europe and Latin America, align the assignment templates used by every subsidiary so that the next transaction does not repeat the exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/services\/copyright-digital-works\/\">copyright and software ownership team<\/a> runs these reviews, and the wider <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/services\/ip-strategy-cross-border\/\">cross-border IP due diligence and valuation<\/a> work covers trademarks and patents in the same deal.<\/p>\n<h2>Where companies get copyright due diligence wrong<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Assuming payment means ownership.<\/strong> Paying an agency or freelancer does not by itself transfer copyright: Spain requires assignments in writing and limits silent ones, and in Mexico an unwritten transfer is void.<\/li>\n<li>Applying one country&#8217;s rules to the whole group. The Mexican rules on employees and commissioned works differ from the Spanish ones, and each subsidiary needs its own check.<\/li>\n<li>Treating open source as a yes or no question. The risk depends on the licence and on how the software is distributed or offered online.<\/li>\n<li>Ignoring time and territory. A silent assignment may have expired or never covered the new markets.<\/li>\n<li>Leaving fixes until after closing, when the buyer&#8217;s leverage and the authors&#8217; cooperation are both lower.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<h3>What documents are needed for copyright due diligence?<\/h3>\n<p>The core set is employment contracts with IP clauses, written assignments from contractors, agencies and founders, inbound and outbound licences, a list of open source components with their licences, and any recorded transfers or registrations. For each core product, the target should be able to show who created it and how the rights reached the company.<\/p>\n<h3>Does the employer automatically own software written by employees?<\/h3>\n<p>In the EU, yes for economic rights, when the program is created in the execution of the employee&#8217;s duties or following the employer&#8217;s instructions, unless the contract provides otherwise. Spain and Mexico follow the same rule for software. It does not extend to freelancers, and it does not cover other works such as designs or texts in the same way.<\/p>\n<h3>Can missing copyright assignments be fixed before closing?<\/h3>\n<p>Usually, yes. The standard fix is a confirmatory assignment signed by the author in favour of the company, drafted under the applicable law and, in Mexico, recorded where effect against third parties matters. If the author cannot be found, the parties typically address the gap with replacement code, specific warranties, indemnities or a price adjustment.<\/p>\n<h3>Can IP Global Guard run copyright due diligence for a deal in Europe and Latin America?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. We review ownership, open source and content licences in the target&#8217;s main jurisdictions, report gaps by severity and prepare the remediation documents. Where local law requires it, we coordinate qualified correspondents in Latin America and Africa, so the deal team works with a single point of contact.<\/p>\n<h2>How IP Global Guard supports your transaction<\/h2>\n<p>A deal priced on software and content is only as solid as the chain of title behind it. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, handles copyright, licensing and portfolio due diligence with one strategy and one billing relationship across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Share the deal timeline, the target&#8217;s main products and the countries where it operates. We will scope the review, flag the issues that affect valuation first and coordinate the fixes before signing. <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/contact\/\">Contact our transactions team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace a review of the specific transaction.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/eudr\/2009\/24\/article\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legislation.gov.uk, Directive 2009\/24\/EC on the legal protection of computer programs, Art. 1 (23 April 2009)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/eudr\/2009\/24\/article\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legislation.gov.uk, Directive 2009\/24\/EC, Art. 2 (23 April 2009)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boe.es\/buscar\/act.php?id=BOE-A-1996-8930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BOE, Spanish Copyright Act (Royal Legislative Decree 1\/1996), Arts. 43, 45, 51 and 97 (consolidated text)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.diputados.gob.mx\/LeyesBiblio\/pdf\/LFDA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Federal Copyright Law, Arts. 30-33, 83, 84 and 103 (reform of 14 May 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/gpl-3.0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Free Software Foundation, GNU General Public License v3 (29 June 2007)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/agpl-3.0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Free Software Foundation, GNU Affero General Public License v3 (19 November 2007)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apache.org\/licenses\/LICENSE-2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apache Software Foundation, Apache License 2.0 (January 2004)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.org\/license\/mit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open Source Initiative, The MIT License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spdx.dev\/about\/overview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SPDX, overview (ISO\/IEC 5962:2021)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to check software ownership, open source compliance and content licences before an M&#038;A deal or investment between the EU and Latin America, with a checklist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[50,42,46,44],"class_list":["post-397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-copyright-digital-works","tag-due-diligence","tag-licensing","tag-mexico","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}