There are three issues you are looking at:
1. What is the intellectual property?
2. Who owns it?
3. What does that mean for the IP owner?
The most applicable form of IP in this instance is copyright.
1.Copyright applies to any creative work "fixed in a tangible medium of expression."
Copyright protection applies the moment a work is created, (registration is not required, unless you are seeking statutory damages for infringement.
If you write a letter to your family, it is protected by copyright.
Any drawings, plots, sketches,
etc.. are all protected by copyright. The ink and paper are the "tangible medium of expression"
As far as the courts in the USA are concerned, a lighting
console is a computer, and your cues, focuses, palettes, presets,
etc.. form a "program" The moment you save that showfile to disk, harddrive, cd, memory stick,
etc... that "program" has become "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" as well, and is protected by copyright.
2. Generally, the creator of the work is the owner of the copyrights. The main exceptions in this business is if the work is "made for hire" or if a contract establishes otherwise.
As a condition for hire, a
producer may require all copyrights be assigned to the production company, theater,
etc... union contracts may also spell out copyright assignments.
"Work made for hire" generally applies to employees creating copyrightable works as part of their regular employment. These copyrights are owned by the employer. An example would be a computer animation studio. It might have landscape artists, model makers, lighters, animators,
etc... when an employee makes a new model, the studio owns the copyrights. The biggest question in this business is someone an independent contractor or an employee. There are tons of court cases discussing the finer details of whether someone is an employee or IC. The most basic answer is if the employer sets your hours and provides your tools, you are an employee, and the employer owns the copyrights. If you set the hours you work, and provide your own drawing drafting tools, then you are an IC, and own the copyrights.
It is always best to get a contract explicitly stating who will own the copyrights to the lighting programming in
advance.
More info can be found here:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ09.pdf
3. Finally Whoever owns the copyright, controls who can copy and distribute their work. Most shows will have dozens of copyrights involved. Scripts, songs, music, audio recordings, lighting, and are just a few of the IP's involved, so producers try to get all of the rights.
This is just a starting
point.
Hope it helps.
RB