Copyright in Ideas: Equitable Ownership of Copyright

One of the fundamental principles of copyright law is the expression vs. idea dichotomy, which states that copyright does not protect ideas but only expressions of ideas. According to this principle, a person who merely contributes an idea to a copyright work cannot claim authorship or joint authorship of that work. Instead, it is the author or creator of the work who becomes the sole copyright owner, even when the idea appropriated by the author was sine qua non for creation of the work. This paper inquires into the concept of equitable ownership of copyright. It reviews jurisprudence regarding equitable copyright in Canada, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong, and finds that only in Canada has this issue been neglected in legal discourse. It examines the possibility of using the law of equity to assist contributors of ideas who cannot claim legal ownership of copyright under the Copyright Act.