A dispute over a photograph, graphic design or licence often concerns money, authorship and future cooperation at the same time. Discussion can separate those issues and establish specific terms for using the work. Documents showing who holds the rights and careful review of the proposed settlement are still needed. Mediation does not remove copyright or industrial property requirements. This also applies to proceedings conducted entirely online.
Key points before you start
- Identify the particular work or right, its holders and the disputed use.
- Separate settlement of past conduct from a licence or future cooperation.
- Court approval does not replace any special form required for the legal act.
Which issues can the discussion address?
Kamil Szpyt describes a wide range of disputes involving infringement, performance of contracts and continued use of protected assets. Separating these questions helps prepare mediation. Is the problem unpaid remuneration, a photograph published beyond the agreed scope, missing attribution or material supplied to another entity? Each issue may require different wording and different participants.
The parties can consider payment, removal of specified materials, corrected attribution or a licence, among other options. That does not give them freedom to dispose of every right. Article 16 of the Polish Copyright Act protects the creator’s inalienable and non-waivable connection with the work. Moral rights should therefore not be treated as economic rights that can be sold. The agreement’s scope must fit the particular right and claim.
Sources for this section: [1, pp. 143–144] [2] [4]
What should you prepare, and how can information be protected?
Collect contracts, amendments, correspondence about the commission, versions of the work and evidence of how it was used. For a registered right, also prepare its identifier and documents concerning the right holder. Payment for a design does not settle every question about assignment or the scope of a licence. Establish beforehand whether co-authors, a subcontractor, an employer or another right holder need to participate.
Szpyt’s chapter stresses confidentiality, particularly where know-how is involved. Article 183⁴ KPC protects facts learned in connection with mediation and prevents effective reliance before a court on the proposals and statements specified in that provision. Agree who can receive materials, how access will be secured and the rules on recording. Do not send the entire technical documentation with an initial enquiry; establish which information is needed first.
Sources for this section: [1, pp. 148–150] [2] [4]
How should a licence and future cooperation be described?
A settlement can address past use separately from future arrangements. Article 41(2) of the Copyright Act requires the fields of exploitation covered by an assignment or licence to be expressly identified. Article 67 provides for specifying the scope, place and duration of use. A general phrase such as “permission to use online” may not reflect what the parties actually intend to agree.
Discuss specific publication channels, duration, territory, remuneration, exclusivity and permission to grant further authorisation. Clarify delivery of files and permitted modifications. An invention or trade mark requires analysis of the relevant rules rather than mechanical reuse of a copyright clause. Mediation allows discussion of future cooperation, but the terms must reflect the participants’ actual rights and cannot dispose of rights belonging to others.
Sources for this section: [1, pp. 146–147] [2] [3]
Legal form and implementation: what should be checked at the end?
An assignment of economic copyright must be in writing to be valid under Article 53. The same requirement applies to an exclusive licence under Article 67(5). Not all licences follow identical rules: an invention licence falls under Article 76(1) of the Industrial Property Law. Under Article 67 of that law, assignment of a patent must be in writing and becomes effective against third parties when entered in the register.
Article 183¹⁵ § 2 KPC preserves special requirements concerning legal form even after court approval. An email or a scanned signature does not automatically meet every required form. Before signing, have the document, authority and any registration steps checked with a lawyer. Where an agreement is intended to operate in several countries, applicable law and enforceability must also be examined. Holding the discussion online does not remove these questions.
Educational scenario — a fictional example, not a case handled by the Foundation.
Photographs in a local brand’s campaign
In this fictional example, a photographer and a Kraków brand understand the permitted use of photographs differently. The brand has used them in an additional campaign. Before mediation, they compare the contract, messages and particular publications to identify the disputed issues.
A possible draft addresses payment for earlier use, a deadline for removing some publications and a separate licence for specified materials. The parties obtain advice on fields of exploitation, signing and attribution. This illustrates matters to agree; it does not establish that infringement occurred or that the mediator will determine damages.
Questions about this topic
Can I agree a licence during online mediation?
Sources and further reading
- Kamil Szpyt, Mediacja w sprawach z zakresu prawa własności intelektualnej, w: Janina Czapska, Maksymilian Szeląg-Dylewski (red.), Mediacje w prawie, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2014, s. 139–154. ISBN 978-83-233-3672-3.
Pages cited from this edition: 143–144, 146–150.
- Ustawa z 4 lutego 1994 r. o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych, t.j. Dz.U. 2025 poz. 24, ze zmianami; art. 16, 41, 53 i 67.
- Ustawa z 30 czerwca 2000 r. – Prawo własności przemysłowej, t.j. Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1170, ze zmianami; w szczególności art. 67 i 76.
- Ustawa z dnia 17 listopada 1964 r. – Kodeks postępowania cywilnego, tekst jednolity Dz.U. z 2026 r. poz. 468, ze zmianami; w szczególności art. 183¹–183¹⁵, art. 259¹, art. 436 i art. 445².
- Ustawa z dnia 23 kwietnia 1964 r. – Kodeks cywilny, tekst jednolity Dz.U. z 2026 r. poz. 795; w szczególności art. 121 pkt 5–6, art. 917–918 oraz przepisy o formie czynności prawnych.
An original treatment of the subject drawing on Kamil Szpyt’s chapter in Mediacje w prawie (2014), with an original educational example. Current requirements concerning legal form, the scope of rights and mediation were checked in official sources as at 23 October 2026.
Educational material based on sources checked on 23 October 2026. It does not replace an individual legal assessment of a particular case. The scenarios are fictional and do not describe clients’ experiences or outcomes achieved by the Foundation. Legislation, judgments and research publications are cited alongside the relevant topics; DOIs are provided only for publications that have such an identifier.