Who Owns the Copyright in a Book Compiled from a Celebrity Interview—the Interviewee or the Interviewer? Joint Authorship in Oral Accounts

In recent years, celebrity biographies, stories about athletes, interviews with entrepreneurs, rewritten podcast transcripts, and publications compiled from audiovisual interviews have become increasingly common. Suppose a freelance writer plans to travel to the United States to interview internationally renowned baseball player Shohei Ohtani and then compile the interview content, stories about his upbringing, views on training, and a review of his career into a book for publication. A common question then arises: who owns the copyright in the final published text—the interviewee, the interviewer, or the publishing entity?

Questions of this kind cannot be resolved merely by asking "who spoke more" or "who was responsible for publishing the book." They must instead be examined under the central inquiry of copyright law: who made creative contributions to the final expression, and whether those contributions can be separately exploited from the contributions of others.

Case Background: From Interview to Publication, the Rights Involved May Be More Complex Than Expected

In practice, compiling a celebrity interview into a book usually involves more than merely recording questions and answers. The interviewer may conduct multiple interviews, organize recordings, rewrite transcripts, supplement background information, restructure chapters, polish the language, and even add observations, commentary, and a narrative structure. The interviewee may provide personal experiences, career perspectives, training methods, recollections of events, and original oral expression.

Accordingly, ownership of copyright in an interview record generally depends on how the work was actually created. The ownership may differ entirely under different circumstances.

Scenario One: If the Interviewer Merely Makes a Faithful Record, Copyright May Belong to the Interviewee

If the interviewee provides a complete oral account of personal stories, views, or speech content, while the interviewer merely records the oral content faithfully without adding new textual expression, chapter arrangements, or creative rewriting, the work of the interviewer is closer to "transcription" or "reproduction."

In such circumstances, if the oral content of the interviewee possesses the originality required of an oral and literary work, the interviewee may be the author of that content. The interviewer merely converts the oral content into writing and, in principle, does not acquire copyright in the textual content merely by typing it, arranging punctuation, or correcting typographical errors.

For example, if the interviewee gives a complete account of a life story with distinctive personal expression and the interviewer merely records it verbatim and publishes it directly, consent should still be obtained from the interviewee before publication to avoid infringing the rights of the interviewee in the oral and literary work.

Scenario Two: The Interviewer Uses Only Facts and Ideas and Then Creates the Work in the Interviewer's Own Words

Copyright protects specific expression; it does not protect mere facts, ideas, concepts, methods, or historical events themselves. Accordingly, if the interviewer obtains only factual information from the interviewee, such as upbringing, competition experience, training schedules, career turning points, or public events, and then creates an entirely new work using original wording, structure, and narrative style, the interviewer may own the copyright in the completed written content.

For example, the interviewee may merely provide facts such as "participated in a competition in a certain year," "underwent rehabilitation after an injury," or "placed particular emphasis on sleep and diet in training." If the interviewer then uses original writing to produce a complete profile article, the interviewer may, in principle, own the copyright in the specific textual expression of that article.

It should be noted, however, that this does not mean the interviewer may freely use recordings, transcripts, or original oral expressions of the interviewee that possess originality. If the published content retains substantial portions of the original words, distinctive tone, or complete oral passages of the interviewee, it may still involve copyright in the oral and literary work of the interviewee or issues of joint authorship.

Scenario Three: If Both Parties Make Creative Contributions, a Joint Work May Be Created

In most practical cases involving books compiled from interviews, the most common situation is not either of the two extremes above, but one in which both the interviewee and the interviewer make creative contributions to the final content.

For example, the interviewee provides stories, views, and language bearing a personal style of expression, while the interviewer is responsible for designing the interview outline, restructuring chapters, arranging the narrative, rewriting the text, and organizing the content. If the final published manuscript integrates the creative expression of both parties and their respective contributions cannot objectively be separately exploited, the manuscript may constitute a joint work.

Once a joint work is created, both parties are, in principle, authors, and the copyright should be jointly owned and exercised by them. In other words, publication, licensing, adaptation, translation, electronic-book release, film or television development, or other commercial exploitation should generally be handled with the consent of the joint authors or in accordance with their contractual agreement.

If the Writing Is Created Within the Scope of Employment or Under Commission, the Contract Must Also Be Reviewed

Another common situation involving a book compiled from interviews is that the interviewer is not a freelance writer, but an employee of a publishing house, media company, talent management company, or brand team; alternatively, a writer may be hired with funding from the interviewee, publishing entity, or business to complete the interview manuscript.

If a work is completed by an employee within the scope of employment, the identity of the author and ownership of the economic rights should first be determined by examining whether the employer and employee have made a contractual agreement. If a work is completed by a person under commission, the identity of the author and ownership of the economic rights should likewise be determined first under the contract between the parties. Without a clear agreement, disputes may later arise over the scope of exploitation, publication authority, and allocation of proceeds.

Therefore, signing a comprehensive agreement before the interview is generally more important than arguing afterward over "who is the author."

Term of Protection: For a Joint Work, the Death of the Last Surviving Author Governs

Under the current Copyright Act, economic rights in a joint work subsist for fifty years after the death of the last surviving author and terminate on the last day of the year in which that term expires.

For example, if Interviewee A dies in 2065 and Interviewer B dies in 2095, and the interview manuscript is determined to be a joint work of A and B, the term of protection for the economic rights will, in principle, be calculated for fifty years after the death of B, the last surviving author, and will therefore expire on December 31, 2145.

This also means that, unless licensing, publication, adaptation, allocation of proceeds, and the method for exercising rights following inheritance are clearly agreed at the outset of the collaboration, long-term and intergenerational rights-management issues may arise.

Recommendations for Intellectual Property Strategy

AIPT Group recommends that, before publishing celebrity interviews, oral histories, biographical books, or brand stories, businesses, publishing houses, independent media teams, talent management companies, and freelance writers first clarify ownership of the interview content and how it may be exploited.

• Obtain written consent before the interview: Clearly define the purpose of the interview and the scope of audio and video recording, transcript preparation, publication, online publication, audiovisual editing, and subsequent adaptation and exploitation.
• Distinguish between recordings, transcripts, and rewritten drafts: Audio recordings, transcripts, interview notes, edited drafts, and published manuscripts may involve different levels of copyright and licensing issues.
• Clearly define the author and ownership of economic rights: If a publishing house, business, or interviewee funds and commissions a writer, the contract should specify the author, ownership of the economic rights, and the scope of exploitation.
• Agree on how rights in a joint work will be exercised: If both parties will participate in the creative process, they should agree in advance on publication, licensing, adaptation, translation, electronic books, audiovisual adaptation, and allocation of proceeds.
• Avoid relying solely on oral agreements: Interview collaborations often encompass text, photographs, audiovisual content, social media, electronic books, and secondary licensing. A written agreement is recommended to reduce future disputes.

Case Conclusion

Ownership of copyright in a book compiled from celebrity interviews cannot categorically be assigned to the interviewee, interviewer, or publishing entity. If the interviewer merely makes a faithful record, the interviewee may own the copyright. If the interviewer uses only facts and ideas and creates new text in original words, the interviewer may own the copyright in that text. If both parties make creative contributions and those contributions cannot be separately exploited, the result may be a joint work.

For creators and businesses, the most important step is to confirm ownership of rights, the scope of licensing, and methods of subsequent exploitation by contract before the interview, so as to avoid rights disputes arising only at the publication, licensing, or commercialization stage.

Source: Taiwan Intellectual Property Office｜Who Owns the Copyright in an Autobiography Published from an Interview Conducted by Another Person?
Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan)｜Copyright Act