Originalinhaber

Originalinhaber is a term used in German-language contexts to denote the person who originally held ownership or rights to an asset at the time of its creation, transfer, or registration. The original holder may be the creator or inventor, or the first owner recorded in official documents. The concept is relevant in civil law, intellectual property law, and provenance practice. Importantly, being the original holder does not automatically determine current ownership, as rights and title can pass through sale, assignment, inheritance, or licensing.

In copyright law, the original holder is typically the author or creator, who holds initial moral and economic rights unless those rights are transferred or licensed. In patents and trademarks, the original inventor or first applicant is often referenced as the original holder of the rights. In property law and art provenance, the originalinhaber is the person in whose name the asset was first registered or recorded; provenance documents may cite the original holder to establish a chain of title.

In the realm of digital assets and NFTs, the term has gained usage to indicate the first owner of the token or asset at minting, though terminology varies and ownership can change through transfers. Because the term is not always defined uniformly in law, it is sometimes used interchangeably with terms like Erstinhaber in contractual or provenance contexts.

See also: Erstinhaber; Eigentümer; Urheber; provenance.