Civ. Code, § 981 · Chapter 3. Products of the Mind
Civ. Code, § 981
Verbatim from the official edition
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Unless otherwise agreed, an original work of authorship not fixed in any tangible medium of expression and in the creation of which several persons are jointly concerned, is owned by them in equal proportion.
(b) Unless otherwise agreed, an invention or design in the production of which several persons are jointly concerned is owned by them as follows:
(1) If the invention or design is single, in equal proportions.
(2) If it is not single, in proportion to the contribution of each.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 574, Sec. 3.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=981.
- Text hash
- sha256 d39c026556cbbf1671202a5207137ad8df9b47d453bd389f2b111ebee98538c4
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.