According to copyright laws of the United States, to be considered a work made for hire, three conditions must be satisfied: (1) the work must be created by an employee within the scope of their employment, (2) the work must fall within one of the specific categories defined by the Copyright Act, and (3) there must be a written agreement between the parties explicitly stating that the work is a work made for hire.
Categories of works
Work for hire arrangements can exist in various fields, including writing, music composition, visual arts, software development, and more. Each field may have its own specific considerations and agreements, but the fundamental concept of transferring ownership rights from the creator to the hiring party remains consistent. Work for hire agreements with independent contractors must fall within the nine categories of works in Section 101 of the Copyright Act of 1976:
- a contribution to a collective work
- a 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
- an atlas
