20. Can I use work I created in the course of my previous employment in my new business?
This depends on the agreement between you and your previous employer. Subject to agreement to the contrary, where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or a film, is made by an employee in the course of his employment, his employer is the first owner of any copyright in the work (see section 14 of the Copyright Ordinance). Such agreement must have been made before the work came into existence and may be express (e.g. in writing or oral) or implied (e.g. as a result of long-standing practice).
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