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Work Made For Hire
Practical Law Glossary Item 2-504-2621 (Approx. 4 pages)
Glossary
Work Made For Hire
Under Section 101 of the Copyright Act, a work that is either:
- Created by an employee in the scope of their employment.
- Specially commissioned, if the work's creator and the commissioning party agree in writing that the work is a work made for hire and the work is commissioned for use as:
- a contribution to a collective work;
- part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work;
- a translation;
- a supplementary work;
- a compilation;
- an instructional text;
- a test;
- answer material for a test; or
- an atlas.
For copyright purposes, the employer or commissioning party is both:
- The author of a work made for hire.
- The initial owner of the copyright in the work unless that party and the work's creator agree differently in writing.
For more information, see Practice Note: Copyrighted Works Made for Hire.