Section EI 3 — Income Tax Act 2007: Assigning or granting copyright

EI 3 Assigning or granting copyright When this section applies (1) This section applies when a person— (a) is the author of a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work; and (b) made the work over a period of more than 1 year; and (c) receives consideration from— (i) assigning some or all of the copyright in the work; or (ii) granting an interest in the copyright by licence. Timing of income: lump sum payment (2) If some or all of the consideration is a lump sum payment that would be income in 1 tax year, the person may allocate the income equally between the income year in which they receive it and— (a) the income year before that income year, if they made the work over a period of 2 years or less; or (b) the 2 income years before that income year, if they made the work over a period of more than 2 years. Timing of income: other payments (3) If some or all of the consideration is not a lump sum payment, would be income in 1 tax year, and is received by the person within 2 years after the first publication of the work, the person may allocate the income equally between the income year in which they receive it and the previous income year. Self-publication (4) Subsection (3) applies to income that the person derives from being the publisher of their work. Application (5) The following provisions apply to an allocation for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3): (a) for an allocation under subsection (2), the person must apply in writing to the Commissioner no later than 6 years after the end of the income year in which they receive the payment; and (b) for an allocation under subsection (3), the person must apply in writing to the Commissioner no later than 8 years after the first publication of the work. Some definitions (6) In this section,— author includes a joint author first publication means the first occasion on which the work or a reproduction of it is published, performed, or exhibited lump sum payment includes an advance on account of royalties. Defined in this Act: author , Commissioner , first publication , income , income year , lump sum payment , pay , royalty , tax year , year , Compare: 2004 No 35 s EI 3