Licensing Agreement Template Australia: How to License Your Content and Keep Ownership

If you want someone to use your photos, logo, music, artwork, design or writing while you keep owning it, you need a licence, not an assignment. A licence is written permission to use your work on set terms: what they can use, for what, where, for how long and for what fee. An assignment hands ownership over for good.

Claim Done drafts a content and IP licensing agreement from your answers for a flat A$49. You download it straight away and both of you sign it. This guide is for the owner granting the licence. It covers licence versus assignment, exclusive and non-exclusive licences, what the agreement should set out, credit, and the tax basics.

Licence or assignment: which one do you need?

IP Australia describes licensing as the owner (the licensor) giving someone else (the licensee) permission to use, but not own, their IP in exchange for payment.

Selling is different. IP Australia’s IP First Response site explains that selling IP means transferring ownership to the buyer through an assignment, so you no longer have the rights to use it. Once the assignment is done, you have no control over what you sold unless the buyer agreed to license some rights back to you.

So ask yourself one question. Do you want the work back, or the right to use it elsewhere, later? If yes, you want a licence.

Copyright is automatic, so you already own something to license

You do not have to register copyright before you license it. The Attorney-General’s Department says copyright protection is free and automatic in Australia, and there is no formal registration system. It also warns that websites offering to “register” copyright for a fee have no authority to guarantee protection. IP Australia’s types of IP page puts it the same way: copyright protects your original expression of an idea as soon as you document it.

Two points matter before you grant anything:

• Make sure it is yours to license. The creator, or in some cases their employer, gets the rights when the material is first created. IP Australia says you can license IP you own or have the right to sublicense.
• Know what copyright covers. The department’s copyright basics page says copyright exists under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), protects the expression of ideas rather than the ideas themselves, and does not usually protect names and titles. Trade marks are a separate right that is registered with IP Australia.

Exclusive, sole or non-exclusive

IP Australia describes three common kinds of licence:

The IP First Response guide on licensing your IP is blunt about the exclusive kind: if you exclusively license your IP rights, you will no longer be able to use them yourself. Give an exclusive licence only if that is what you mean. The Claim Done agreement lets you choose exclusive or non-exclusive.

What a licence agreement should set out

The same guide says licences are flexible: you choose what, where, when and how the work can be used. It also warns that disputes can arise if the terms are not clear. A clear licence covers:

1. Who the parties are, with full names and any company name.
2. What is licensed. Describe the work so there is no doubt which files, images or versions are covered.
3. Exclusive or non-exclusive.
4. The permitted uses. For example website, social media, advertising or packaging. The Claim Done agreement says any use not listed is not licensed.
5. Where. Worldwide, or limited to a territory such as Australia.
6. How long. IP Australia says a licence can be in force for any amount of time.
7. The fee or royalty.
8. Sub-licensing and transfer. IP Australia says an agreement should state on what terms a licensee can assign or sub-license, and that a licence typically bars assignment without your prior written consent.
9. Credit. Whether your name must appear when the work is used.
10. Ownership kept. A plain statement that you still own the work and nothing is transferred.
11. Ending it. IP Australia suggests setting out when a licence can be terminated, such as on a breach, and what each party must do when it ends.

Fees and royalties

IP Australia’s licence royalties page says you can be paid through royalties or lump sum payments. Royalties are most commonly paid on sales or for use of a process, and royalties on sales are usually a percentage of the sale price. Write down the exact amount or percentage and what it is a percentage of. The Claim Done agreement records the fee or royalty exactly as you give it and adds no figures or payment dates you did not give.

Credit and moral rights

The Attorney-General’s Department says creators have moral rights: the right of attribution, the right against false attribution, and the right of integrity. Moral rights apply to creators whether or not they own the copyright, and they cannot be assigned or licensed to another person. A licence can still say whether the licensee must credit you. If you want credit, say so in the agreement.

GST and income basics (as at November 2026)

• The ATO lists royalties, such as payments when others use your copyrighted material, among the amounts a business includes as assessable income.
• You must register for GST when your GST turnover is $75,000 or more, within 21 days of being required to. Below that, registration is optional.
• GST is 10% on most goods, services and other items, and registered businesses generally include GST in the price they charge.

IP Australia also notes you may need to consider the tax side of a licence, particularly across more than one country. Check your own position with the ATO or a registered tax agent.

The structure of the agreement

The Claim Done licence is laid out under these headings:

• Date and parties: the licensor and licensee, named in full.
• The licensed material: a description that identifies the work.
• Grant of licence: exclusive or non-exclusive, and a clear statement that this is permission to use, not a transfer of ownership.
• Permitted uses, territory and term: as you set them.
• Fee or royalty: as you set it.
• Sub-licensing: not allowed, allowed with your written consent, or allowed.
• Ownership retained: you remain the owner of the work and its IP rights.
• Attribution: credit, if you require it.
• Licensor’s warranty: that you own or control the work and may license it.
• Termination: at the end of the term, or after a material breach that is not fixed within a reasonable time; the licensee then stops using the work.
• General: whole agreement, the State or Territory whose law governs it, and signing in counterparts.
• Signing block for both parties, with dates.

Signing it and keeping records

Both parties sign and date the agreement and each keeps a copy. Keep the exact files you supplied, so it is clear which version was licensed. A copyright notice is not legally required, but the Attorney-General’s Department calls it sound practice, as it helps people identify you as the owner.

Mistakes to avoid

• Signing an assignment when you meant a licence. Words like “transfer” or “assign all rights” are about ownership.
• Vague uses. “Marketing purposes” leaves room for argument. List the channels.
• Granting exclusivity by accident. It can stop you using your own work.
• No end date or ending rules. Decide what happens when the licence ends.
• Licensing a trade mark, such as a logo, without controls. IP First Response notes that if a licensor cannot maintain effective controls over trade mark use, the trade mark can become vulnerable to removal for non-use.
• Licensing what you do not own, such as work your employer may hold the rights to.

Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Because of the complexities involved, IP Australia recommends tailored advice from a commercialisation expert. For a straightforward licence that keeps ownership with you, you can start your licensing agreement now for A$49.