Work for Hire

Copyrights of works created by employees belong to the employer in the first instance. Also, specific categories of works created on commission can be works for hire, and therefore owned by the commissioning party, if the parties agreed to it in writing. These categories are:

1. A contribution to a collective work.

2. A part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.

3. A translation.

4. A supplementary work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustration, map, chart, table, musical arrangements, or index.

5. A compilation.

6. An instructional text.

7. A test.

8. Answer material for a test or.

9. An atlas.

Works that do not fall under these categories cannot be considered works for hire even if the contract between the parties states that it is a work for hire.