# Who owns the work when we stop?

**Short answer.** The maker owns it, unless it was transferred to you in writing. That holds even for work you paid for in full, and it is the most expensive surprise in an agency switch.

The maker owns it, unless it was transferred to you in writing. That holds even for work you paid for in full, and in an agency switch it is the most expensive surprise there is.

## The rule

In Belgium copyright stays with whoever made the work. Paying for the assignment is not the same as buying the rights: those only pass with a written transfer stating what passes, for what use, for what territory and for how long.

If your contract says nothing, you usually hold a right of use for what the work was made for, and nothing beyond it. You discover that when you want to reuse that campaign on a new channel, or when another agency wants to build on it.

## What it is about in practice

- **The source files.** A pdf is not a design. Without the working files your successor cannot adapt anything and has to remake it all.
- **Photography, music and fonts.** Almost always licensed for a period, a territory and a use. Those licences are rarely in the advertiser's name, and they expire.
- **Models and voices.** Contracts with a term, where an extension is a fresh negotiation.
- **Code and templates.** A website running on an agency's own framework is technically not simply portable.
- **Data and accounts.** Analytics, ad accounts, domain names. Make sure those are in your name and not the agency's. This is the item forgotten most often and the one that hurts fastest.

## What to settle today

Put in the contract, in one paragraph: which rights transfer on payment, what happens to source files at the end of the relationship, and which licences are in your name. At the start that paragraph costs nothing. At the end it costs weeks and sometimes work that has to be remade.

## And if the contract says nothing about it

Simply ask, before the termination letter. An agency leaving on good terms usually hands over the source files, even without an obligation. Ask after a difficult parting and it becomes a negotiation in which you hold the weakest position.

This is a general explanation and not legal advice; have your contract reviewed by someone qualified. At IKAg this clause is on the list by default when we put an agency contract next to the scope and the remuneration: see [Agency evaluation & remuneration](https://www.ikag.be/en/agency-evaluation).

See also: [what to put in an agency contract](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-in-een-bureaucontract) and [how to make sure the handover goes well](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/goede-overdracht).

## Related questions

- [What do I put in a contract with an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-in-een-bureaucontract): Six things decide everything later: the scope, who works on it, how you order more, who holds the rights, how you terminate, and how handover works. The rest is boilerplate.
- [May I use the work from a pitch if I do not pick that agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/werk-uit-een-pitch-gebruiken): Not without an agreement: copyright stays with the maker until it is transferred in writing, and a pitch fee buys participation, not rights. Settle it in the briefing.
- [How do I make sure the handover goes well?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/goede-overdracht): Ask for source files, access and running commitments while the relationship is still live, not afterwards. A handover clause costs nothing at the start and weeks after the fact.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19