WORK MADE FOR HIRE

An exception to the general rule of copyright where a person who creates a work of authorship is the legally recognized owner of the work. The parties can agree, based upon a written agreement, that a work prepared by an independent contractor shall be given the same effect as an employer owned the work of an employee. Thus the author and copyright owner of the work is the person paying for and commissioning the work, not the artist or actual creator of the work. This occurs in two ways (1) A work made for hire is automatically created for work within the scope of an employer-employee relationship so the work of an employee is generally owned by the company that hired the employee. (2) The work is commissioned in a written agreement and is included within a list of categories set forth under copyright law (a compilation or a contribution to a collective work, as a part of an audiovisual work such as a motion picture, a translation, a supplementary work, an atlas, an instructional exam).