Why Our Coach Contract Has an IP Clause (and What It Actually Means)

When someone reads an “intellectual property (IP)” clause in a coach agreement, it can sound scarier than it is.

This post explains—in plain English—why Dancing Dragons includes an IP clause in our coach contract, what it protects, and what it does not mean.

TL;DR

• Coaches keep ownership of their own coaching materials and methods.
• The Company needs a clear, non-exclusive license to use any materials a coach chooses to provide to the Company for normal business operations (serving clients, running the platform, internal operations, and where applicable, marketing/profile materials).
• The clause exists because in a collaborative coaching environment, language and frameworks inevitably overlap over time, and it’s not realistic to track the provenance of every phrase, exercise tweak, or methodology iteration.

What the agreement says (the “real” meaning)

In our Agreement, the Coach retains ownership of coach-created intellectual property. At the same time, the Coach grants the Company a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use certain coach materials the Coach elects to provide to the Company, for business purposes (including providing services to Clients).

That structure is common in platform-based service businesses: it allows the Company to operate without ambiguity, while still preserving the Coach’s ownership and freedom to use their work elsewhere.

Why we need an IP clause in a coaching business (the “osmosis” reality)

Coaching isn’t like shipping a single, static product with a clear author.

In a real coaching program:

• Coaches get trained, supervised, and coached themselves
• Coaches learn from each other’s language, worksheets, and framing
• Company materials influence coaches (and coaches influence Company materials)
• Good ideas spread fast—because that’s how quality improves

Over time, this creates unavoidable “cross-pollination.” Even when everyone is acting in good faith, it becomes very hard to prove where a particular phrasing, exercise, or framework originated.