Joint authorship has several implications, both legal and practical, such as-
1. Joint authors of a work are co-owners of the copyright in the work. This means that they have an equal right to control the use, distribution, and reproduction of the work. Each joint author has the right to license or assign their share of the copyright to others.
2. Joint authors have the right to be credited for their contribution to the work. If the work is published, each joint author must be identified as such.
3. Joint authors are jointly and severally liable for any infringement of the copyright in the work. This means that if one joint author infringes the copyright, all joint authors can be held liable.
4. Joint authors are entitled to an equal share of any royalties or income generated by the work. If one joint author licenses the work without the consent of the others, they may be required to account for any profits made from the license.
5. Joint authors may disagree on matters related to the work, such as the scope of the work, attribution, or ownership. In such cases, it may be necessary to resolve the dispute through mediation or litigation.
6. Joint authorship can be terminated by agreement or by a court order. If one joint author disclaims their authorship, they may forfeit their rights to the copyright in the work.
Joint authorship is the trend in contemporary scholarship. In a lot of disciplines, most publications are co-authored. Most scholars don't have a problem with it; however, one question that might arise is the ability of the new scholar to create their own scholarly agenda separate from the established scholar. The new scholar needs to be able to make the case that they have their own unique research program that is independent of the established scholar.