Glossary
IP assignment
An IP assignment is a transfer of ownership in the work, so the client owns it instead of the person who made it.
Last updated 26 October 2026
Intellectual property, or IP, is the rights in things like designs, code, photos and copy. An assignment moves those rights from the maker to the client, usually when a named event happens — on payment, on delivery, or on signature. Until that event, the maker commonly still owns the work.
“On payment” means ownership moves when the invoice is cleared. “On delivery” means it can move the day the files are sent, even if the invoice is still unpaid. That difference is one of the most common freelance redlines. A client who owns the files on delivery and pays on Net 60 can use the work for two months before you are paid.
Assignments usually carve out pre-existing materials — the maker’s own libraries, components or presets — which stay with the maker and are licensed for use in the job. Third-party fonts, stock and plugins keep their own licences. The supplier cannot assign what it does not own.
Some deals use a licence for everything rather than an assignment, so the creator keeps ownership and the client gets permission to use the work. Photography, illustration and reusable code often take that shape. A wide exclusive licence can feel like an assignment in practice; the paper should still say which it is.
Portfolio and credit are the quiet extras. Many freelancers keep a right to show the work after launch, unless the client objects in writing. If the job is under an NDA or a stealth launch, say when that right starts.
A worked example
A freelancer assigns the client the rights in a delivered landing page once that page’s invoice is paid in full, but keeps the component library and licenses it for this project. The client’s first draft said “work for hire, on delivery”. The freelancer swapped it for assignment on payment plus a licence of the library, and kept a portfolio right after launch.
How it shows up in a contract
Sample wording · our own drafting
On receipt of full payment of the Fees for a Deliverable, the Supplier assigns to the Client the intellectual property rights in that Deliverable, except Pre-existing Materials, which the Supplier licenses to the Client on a non-exclusive, perpetual basis for use as part of the Deliverables. The Supplier may show the Deliverables in its portfolio after launch unless the Client objects in writing.
In Plain English
Once a delivery is paid for, the client owns that delivery. The supplier keeps its old tools and libraries, and the client can keep using those as part of this job, forever, but does not own them. The supplier can show the work after launch unless the client says no in writing.
Common mistakes
- Assigning on delivery while the invoice is on Net 60, so the client owns the files unpaid.
- Forgetting to carve out a component library, then discovering the client thinks they bought it.
- Using “work for hire” and “assignment on payment” in the same paper without saying which wins.
- Assigning third-party stock or fonts the supplier does not own.
Related
The legal wording governsLast reviewed 26 October 2026Pending lawyer review