What is a work made for hire?
Although the general rule is that the person who creates the work is its author, there is an exception to that principle; the exception is a work made for hire, which is a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or a work specially ordered or commissioned in certain specified circumstances. When a work qualifies as a work made for hire, the employer, or commissioning party, is considered to be the author.
A work made for hire is a work for which a person or entity hires or commissions many people to collaborate for the purpose of creating that work. In such a case, the copyright in that work is owned by the person who does the hiring or the commissioning. A work may only be a work made for hire if the collaborators expressly so agree in writing.
Although the general rule is that the person who creates the work is its author, there is an exception to that principle. A “work made for hire” is a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, or a work specially ordered or commissioned in certain specified circumstances. When a work qualifies as a work made for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered to be the author. Return to index . . .
Usually, the person who creates a work is also the initial owner of the copyright in the work. But this isn’t always the case. Under some circumstances, a person who pays another to create a work becomes the initial copyright owner, not the person who actually created it. The resulting works are called “works made for hire” (or sometimes simply “works for hire”).
As defined by the Copyright Act, there are two situations where a work is considered a “work made for hire.” First, if the work is created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, it is a work made for hire. Second, if the work is specially ordered or commissioned and there is a written agreement, it may be a work for hire, if it is: (i) a contribution to a collective work; (ii) a part of an audiovisual work (including a motion picture); (iii) a translation; (iv) a supplementary work; (v) a compilation; (vi) an instructional text; (vii) a test; (viii) answer material for a test; or (ix) an atlas. When something is a work for hire, the employer owns the copyright in the work and is considered the author, rather than the employee who actually created the work.
