The first owner of copyright in a work is the author except where there is agreement to the contrary such as a commissioning agreement assigning ownership to a third party (where permitted by national laws). In some jurisdictions (e.g. the UK) where an employee creates a work in the course of employment, then the first owner is the employer. In other jurisdictions (such as France) it is not possible for an employer to be the first owner of copyright; rather the author must licence or assign the copyright to an employer.
