Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Ownership definition

What does Ownership mean? In legal practice, ownership describes who has the bundle of rights over property: to possess, use, enjoy income, exclude others, transfer, or charge it, subject to law and third‑party rights (such as easements/servitudes, leases and security interests). It is a descriptive expression used across contexts (land, goods, shares, intellectual property), rather than a single statutory definition, though related concepts are defined in legislation and case law (for example, beneficial ownership in anti‑money laundering/PSC regimes and land registration rules). Across England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, lawyers commonly distinguish legal ownership (title shown on a register, deed or share register) from...

Hong Kong copyright under the Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528): subsistence, fixation, originality, ownership, restricted acts, exceptions and duration, government and Legislative Council rights

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer maintained. It was originally prepared for LexisAdvance® Practical Guidance Hong Kong.

Nature

Intellectual property (IP) rights are acknowledged as private entitlements that engage elements of public interest as well. Copyright protection operates by forbidding unauthorised exploitation of copyright works without the owner’s permission; accordingly, copyright is an IP right that subsists in creative works, as set out in section 2 of the Copyrights Ordinance (Cap 528) (CO), including the following:

original literary, dramatic, musical or Artistic works
sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programmes, and
the typographical arrangement of published editions

Distinct incarnations of a work can attract separate copyrights, for example the book and the theatrical versions of a play. The period of protection and the acts restricted by copyright may differ according to the particular type of work. Copyright exists under the CO, which commenced on 27 June 1997. The copyright regime that applied in Hong Kong before the CO, namely the UK Copyright Act 1956, continues to govern the determination of copyright Ownership for works created prior to the CO’s commencement.

Existence

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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