Exploitatieovereenkomst

In an exploitation agreement, the owner of a right, such as a copyright or patent, grants the other party the authority to use, reproduce, distribute or otherwise commercially exploit the protected work or invention in exchange for payment or subject to certain conditions. This type of agreement is common in the publishing sector, the music industry, the software industry and in connection with licences for trademarks or designs.

The agreement governs, among other matters, the scope of exploitation, its duration, the remuneration (whether by way of royalties or a lump-sum payment) and any exclusivity provisions. In the absence of a clear exploitation agreement, the user has no basis to claim the right to publish or sell the work, resulting in infringement of the intellectual property right.

In practice, an exploitation agreement is frequently employed to facilitate the commercial exploitation of a creation or innovation while the original rights holder retains ownership and control over the applicable terms.