Who owns the work? Copyright from freelancer to agency to client, and AI images

What your employees create in their work belongs to the agency under the law. What a freelancer creates stays with the freelancer. Copyright only passes with a written deed, and only for the rights expressly stated in it.

That is why the chain matters. If you promise the client all rights to a campaign, you must first have those rights yourself from every freelancer who worked on it. For images made almost entirely by AI, it is still uncertain whether there is anything to transfer at all.

In this article

1. Who owns a design created for your agency?
2. How does copyright pass from the freelancer to the agency?
3. What can you transfer to your client?
4. Which rights does the freelancer always keep?
5. Is an image or logo made with AI protected?
6. What must you disclose for AI images since 2 August 2026?
7. What do you agree with freelancers and clients?

Who owns a design created for your agency?

That depends on who made it. If an employee makes it as part of their job, the agency is the creator under the law. If a freelancer makes it, the freelancer is the creator and holds the copyright.

Copyright is the exclusive right of the creator to publish and reproduce a work (Copyright Act, article 1). Works include texts, drawings, photos, films, designs and computer programs (Copyright Act, article 10). So for an agency a logo, a campaign image and a website are often protected works.

A separate rule applies to employees. If the job of someone in employment consists of making such works, the employer is the creator, unless the parties agreed otherwise (Copyright Act, article 7). That only applies to employees, not to freelancers or self-employed people you hire.

A company can also be the creator if it publishes a work as originating from itself, without naming a person as creator (Copyright Act, article 8). You had better not rely on that rule. The real creator can rebut it if the publication was unlawful.

How does copyright pass from the freelancer to the agency?

Only with a written deed. You enter into a transfer or an exclusive licence in writing, and delivery takes place by a deed intended for that purpose (Copyright Act, article 2(3)). That is what the law requires for all property not delivered in another way (Dutch Civil Code Book 3, article 95). In practice it is a document you both sign that records the transfer.

A transfer by the creator only covers the rights that are expressly stated in the agreement, or that necessarily follow from its nature and purpose (Copyright Act, article 2(3)). So name what the client may do: print, use online, adapt, use in other countries, and for how long.

Transfer is not the only route. The creator can also grant a licence, meaning permission for a particular use, while remaining the owner (Copyright Act, article 2(2)). For many campaigns a broad licence is enough. An exclusive licence must be in writing, though.

The text of article 2(3) has applied in this form since 1 January 2026, following the Act strengthening copyright contract law (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 352). A line such as "all rights are transferred" at the bottom of a quote or invoice is therefore risky. A separate deed listing the rights one by one is much stronger.

What can you transfer to your client?

Never more than you have yourself. If a freelancer has not transferred the copyright to your agency, you cannot transfer it to the client either. At most you can give the client the use that you are allowed by the freelancer.

A campaign often consists of work by several creators: a copywriter, an illustrator, a photographer, and stock images or music. You need a separate agreement for each part. A stock licence usually gives only a right of use, not ownership. What you may pass on to the client is set out in the supplier's terms.

Set out in your terms with the client when the rights pass. Many agencies only do this after payment. In the deed with the client, also state which parts are not yours, such as stock images, fonts and open source code, and which licence they fall under.

Which rights does the freelancer always keep?

Even after a transfer the creator keeps moral rights. He can object to publication without his name, to changes, and to any impairment of the work that harms his name or reputation (Copyright Act, article 25(1)). He can waive the right to be named, and partly the right to object to changes (article 25(3)).

For an agency this means: if the client may later want to adapt the logo itself, agree with the freelancer that he waives his right to object to changes as far as the law allows. The right to object to an impairment that harms his reputation always remains.

In addition, copyright contract law protects the freelancer. He is entitled to fair remuneration for the use (Copyright Act, article 25c). If the payment later turns out to be disproportionately low compared with the revenue, he can claim additional remuneration (article 25d). An unreasonably onerous clause can be annulled (article 25f).

The freelancer cannot waive these rights (Copyright Act, article 25h). They do not apply to employees, because there the employer is the creator (article 25b(3)). So a contract that settles "all rights forever, with no extra payment" does not always stand up against a freelancer.

Is an image or logo made with AI protected?

That is uncertain. The Copyright Act says nothing about AI. According to legal research on European copyright law, AI work is only protected if human creative choices can be seen in it (Hugenholtz & Quintais, 2021).

These researchers divide the making into three phases: conception (design and requirements), execution (the AI produces versions) and redaction (selecting, editing, finishing). The AI mainly does the execution. If a human makes creative choices in conception or redaction, and these can be seen in the final result, it is a protected work in their view (Hugenholtz & Quintais, 2021).

The European Parliament takes the view that content generated entirely by AI should not be protected by copyright. It adopted recommendations to the European Commission on this on 10 March 2026, with 460 votes in favour (European Parliament, press release 10 March 2026). These are recommendations, not law.

For your agency this means: a logo that comes almost entirely from a prompt may not be protectable by anyone. You then cannot transfer copyright to the client, and a competitor can use something similar. State in the quote which parts were made with AI and which rights the client does and does not get to them.

What must you disclose for AI images since 2 August 2026?

A deepfake must be recognisable as AI. Since 2 August 2026 the transparency rules of the European AI Act apply. Images, audio and video that resemble real people must be clearly and visibly labelled as AI (European Commission, 2 August 2026).

A deepfake is image, audio or video made or edited with AI that resembles real people, objects, places or events. Anyone who uses such an image in their work must disclose that it is artificial (AI Act, article 50(4)). That also applies to an agency that makes AI images for a campaign.

For a clearly artistic, creative, satirical or fictional work the duty is lighter. You then disclose in an appropriate way that it contains AI images, without hindering the work itself (AI Act, article 50(4)). You must also disclose an AI text on a matter of public interest, unless a human has reviewed it and someone bears editorial responsibility.

The duty to mark AI images in a machine-readable way lies with the provider of the AI system, not with the agency that uses it (AI Act, article 50(2)). The official text of the regulation is in the Official Journal of the EU. The version cited here is an unofficial copy, so check the official text if in doubt.

What do you agree with freelancers and clients?

Put the rights in writing before the work is delivered. With the freelancer you arrange what you need to deliver to the client. With the client you arrange what he gets, and what not.

• With the freelancer: a deed of transfer or an exclusive licence, expressly naming the forms of use, countries and duration.
• With the freelancer: a waiver of the right to object to changes as far as the law allows, and an agreement on credit.
• With the freelancer: a fee that fits the use. Much wider use than intended can later lead to a claim for additional remuneration.
• With the client: what passes and when, for example only after payment, and which parts fall under someone else's licence.
• With the client: which parts were made with AI, that there may be no copyright on them, and who takes care of the AI disclosure for a deepfake.

If you work with your own employees, state in the employment contract that the work belongs to the agency. The law already provides for this, but a clear agreement prevents discussion about work made outside working hours or outside the employee's own tasks (Copyright Act, article 7).

Sources

• Copyright Act (Auteurswet), articles 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 25, 25b to 25f and 25h, text in force from 1 January 2026, accessed 31 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• Dutch Civil Code Book 3, article 95, accessed 31 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• Act strengthening copyright contract law (Wet versterking auteurscontractenrecht), Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2025, 352 (act of 29 October 2025). officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Hugenholtz, P.B. & Quintais, J.P. (2021). Copyright and artificial creation: does EU copyright law protect AI-assisted output? IIC International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, 52(9), 1190-1216. doi.org
• European Parliament, Protecting copyrighted work and the EU creative sector in the AI era (in Dutch), press release 10 March 2026. europarl.europa.eu
• European Commission, Safer and more transparent AI (in Dutch), 2 August 2026. commission.europa.eu
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), article 50, unofficial version, accessed 31 October 2026. artificialintelligenceact.eu