I Agreed to Be Paid for Providing My Copyrighted Work, but I Still Haven’t Been Paid

Question

I agreed to sell a copyrighted work to someone for payment. I completed the work and delivered it to them first, but although they agreed to make the payment by November 1, they did not pay.

They said that they were unable to pay due to their circumstances, so I gave them additional time until November 10, but they still did not make the payment. On November 20, they only said that they would be able to give me a definite answer regarding their situation, and they have now stopped responding to my messages.

The other party is an internet broadcaster, and I have confirmed that they were still playing games and broadcasting as of November 19.

Answer

A contract can be concluded orally as long as there is a mutual agreement between the parties. Therefore, if both parties agreed that you would receive payment in exchange for providing the copyrighted work, a licensing agreement concerning your work can be considered to have been concluded.

Accordingly, based on this licensing agreement, you may demand the agreed payment from the other party, who received the work. If they fail to fulfill their obligation, you may also seek damages for breach of contract. However, simply failing to make a payment may not necessarily result in compensable damages. If you can prove that you suffered damages, however, you may pursue a claim for compensation.

More importantly, however, you should take steps in advance to prevent the other party from using the work without authorization and causing you irreparable harm.

In particular, because the other party operates as an internet broadcaster, once the work is distributed online through such media, it can be extremely difficult to prevent the infringement of your copyright from spreading online, and it may also be difficult to obtain adequate compensation for the resulting harm.

Therefore, if there is a high likelihood that the other party will use the work without authorization, it would be advisable to seek a preventive injunction or other measures based on your economic rights in the copyrighted work before the work is distributed.