- UAE law requires any disposal of economic rights to be in writing and to specify the right, the purpose, and the duration and place of exploitation, and the author keeps every right not expressly assigned.
- Classroom delivery, live streaming, recording, uploading to a platform, translation and marketing clips are separate uses, so name each one you need in the contract.
- Recording a course also involves the trainer's and participants' images, their personal data and third-party material in the pack, each of which needs its own permission or licence.
This article is general legal information; the final wording of the contract should be reviewed by a licensed legal adviser in the country whose law governs it.
Why is “who owns the training pack?” not the only question?
Discussion of trainer contracts usually centres on who owns the training pack. But organisations now need more than ownership: they want to stream a session live, record it, upload it to their learning platform, translate it for their branches and cut clips from it for marketing. Each of these uses is a separate right.
Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights lists the author’s economic rights, including reproduction, public performance and display, broadcasting, communication to the public, translation, modification and making the work available over networks. [1] WIPO explains that uploading a work for on-demand access falls under the making-available right, while live streaming is generally treated as communication to the public. [3] Permission for one does not mean permission for the other.
What does the law require to transfer usage rights?
Article 9 requires any disposal of economic rights, in whole or in part, to be in writing and to specify the right concerned, its purpose, and the duration and place of exploitation. It also provides that the author remains the owner of every right not expressly assigned. [1] Disposing of the original copy of a work does not transfer the economic rights unless agreed. [1]
The practical result: a contract stating that “the trainer will deliver the course materials to the organisation” does not give the organisation the right to record the course or upload it to a platform. General wording such as “all rights” is no substitute for specifying the use, duration and place.
| Use | What the contract specifies | Extra permission usually needed |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom delivery | Number of cohorts and audience | Licences for third-party material |
| Live stream | Platform and permitted audience | Notice to participants |
| Recording for later viewing | Availability period and access | Trainer's consent to image and performance |
| Platform upload | Territory and branches | Access and download controls |
| Translation or adaptation | Languages and limits on changes | Author review of major changes |
| Marketing clips | Length, channels and period | Consent of everyone shown |
Existing and new content: licence or assignment?
Trainers usually bring existing content developed before the contract and used with other clients, then add new content for the organisation. The two should be handled differently:
- Existing content: a non-exclusive licence with defined uses and duration is the better fit, because the trainer will not give up material they earn a living from. WIPO describes licensing as often preferable to selling the rights: the owner permits use in return for payment on mutually agreed terms. [3]
- New content: an assignment of specified economic rights, or an exclusive licence, depending on what the parties negotiate.
Under UAE law, copyright in a work created on behalf of another person is attributed to that person unless otherwise agreed in writing, [1] but relying on that rule alone does not settle the limits of use, so write them down.
In both cases, ask for editable source files, because a right to translate or adapt is of little use if the organisation holds only a locked final file or a finished recording. Also decide whether the trainer may reuse the new content with other clients after the contract ends, and on what terms.
The recording itself: the trainer’s image and performance
A recording captures more than the slides: it captures the trainer’s voice and image. Article 45 provides that, unless otherwise agreed, whoever photographs or records a person may not keep, display or publish the original or copies without that person’s permission, subject to specified exceptions and provided publication does not harm their honour or reputation. [1]
The law also defines performers broadly enough to include people who recite or otherwise perform literary or artistic works. [1] Whether that definition covers a trainer delivering their own material is a question for the forum, so the prudent course is for the contract to include the trainer’s express consent to recording, streaming and making available their performance and image within the agreed limits.
Participants in the recording: personal data, not just an audience
If participants appear in a recording with their images, voices or names, that is personal data: the federal Personal Data Protection Law lists an image among the identifiers that make data personal. [2] The law prohibits processing without the data subject’s consent except in specified cases, and requires consent to be provable, clearly worded and easy to withdraw, without affecting earlier processing. [2]
In practice:
- Tell participants before recording what it is for, how long it will be available and who will see it.
- Offer an alternative to anyone who does not want to appear, such as turning off their camera or taking part in writing.
- If you want marketing clips, ask for separate consent for that purpose.
If the learning platform hosts recordings on servers outside the country, check the cross-border transfer rules: the law permits transfer to a country with adequate data protection legislation, and otherwise sets out specific alternatives, including a contract binding the recipient to the law’s standards or the data subject’s express consent. [2]
The federal law does not apply to government entities or to companies in free zones that have their own data protection legislation, [2] so establish which law applies to your organisation.
Third-party material in the training pack
The images, diagrams, clips and templates a trainer includes may be licensed for classroom use only. UAE law permits copying short extracts for educational or vocational training purposes on conditions that include staying within reasonable limits, not seeking profit and a licence being unobtainable. [1] Those conditions are rarely met by a commercial course uploaded to a platform.
So ask the trainer for a list of third-party material with its sources and licences, and a warranty that the content does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and replace anything whose licence does not cover digital use.
- Existing content: licence
- New content: assignment or licence
- Uses named individually
- Exclusive or non-exclusive
- Consent to record image and performance
- Participant notice and consent
- Third-party material and licences
- Crediting the trainer
- Availability period
- Deletion or archiving
- Source files
- Translated versions
Questions to negotiate with the trainer before signing
Defining the uses is not complete until four commercial points, which the parties usually negotiate, are settled:
- Exclusivity: may the trainer deliver or record the same material for other clients? An exclusive licence prevents that and usually costs more, so limit it to new content where possible.
- Territory and audience: is the content available only to the organisation’s staff in the UAE, to its branches in other countries, or to its customers? Remember that Article 9 requires the place of exploitation to be specified. [1]
- Updates: who updates recorded content when regulations or procedures change, and is re-recording paid separately?
- Fees: does the fee for classroom sessions cover recording rights, or is there a separate fee for the digital licence, renewable with the availability period?
Clear answers to these questions prevent more disputes than any general wording about transferring rights.
Hypothetical example: a classroom course becomes digital content
Hypothetical example: An organisation in Abu Dhabi contracted a trainer to deliver a classroom course on customer service to three cohorts. The contract covers fees, session dates and delivery of the slides. After the first cohort, the organisation wanted to record the course and make it available to staff in its branches, translate it into English and cut a short clip for its social media account.
The team reviewed the contract and found that it granted only classroom delivery, and that the licence for some images in the slides was limited to display in the room. It agreed an addendum granting a non-exclusive licence to record and make the course available internally for a fixed period, a separate licence to translate it with the trainer reviewing the translated version, and the trainer’s written consent to the use of their image and performance. It replaced the unlicensed images, prepared a notice for participants with an option not to appear, and held back the marketing clip until it had consent from everyone shown in it.
Conclusion
Name every use you need in the trainer’s contract, with its purpose, duration and place, because the law leaves the author whatever they have not expressly assigned. Treat the trainer’s image, participants’ data and third-party material in the pack as separate permissions to be secured before the first recording. If a course has already been recorded before these points were settled, suspend access until the addendum and the necessary consents are in place.
Frequently asked questions
Does handing over the slide files mean the organisation can record and publish the course?
No. Handing over a copy does not transfer economic rights unless agreed, and the law leaves the author every right not expressly assigned, so what matters is what the contract says in writing. [1]
Can we cut a clip from the recording to use in marketing?
Marketing is a different purpose from training, so it must be expressly covered by the licence or assignment, and you need the permission of everyone who appears in the clip. [1, 2]
Is participants' consent to recording enough to use it in any way?
Consent should be clear, specific to the purpose and provable, and participants may withdraw it at any time without affecting earlier processing. So state the purposes and duration of use in the notice. [2]
Can we use images and clips from the internet in the pack because the purpose is training?
The vocational training exception in UAE law is limited to short extracts, non-profit use and cases where a licence cannot be obtained, so a commercial training provider usually cannot rely on it. [1]
What happens to the recordings after the trainer's contract ends?
That depends on the duration and place of availability the parties agreed. If the licence is for a fixed period, the right to make the recording available ends with it, so decide in advance what happens to recordings and archived copies.
References
- UAE Legislation Platform. Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Neighboring Rights (2021)
- UAE Legislation Platform. Federal Decree by Law No. (45) of 2021 Concerning the Protection of Personal Data (2021)
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Creative Expression: An Introduction to Copyright and Related Rights for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (2023)
