Copyright Rules

If you hire an IC to create a work of authorship -- such as written works, plays, music, art, graphics, photographs, computer software, films and videos, designs, and so on -- the finished product will be protected by copyright. The owner of a copyright has a number of rights to control how the work may be used, including the exclusive right to copy and distribute the work. If an IC retained the copyright to work you hired him or her to create, your right to use that work would be severely limited -- even though you paid for it.

Works Made for Hire

When you pay an IC to create a work made for hire, you are legally considered to be the work's author and are entitled to all copyright rights in the work -- but only if you and the IC make a written agreement stating that the work is for hire. (For more information and sample work-for-hire contract language, see Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements, by Stephen Fishman (Nolo).)

Not every creative work can be a work for hire, however. Only work that falls into one of these categories can qualify:

• a contribution to a collective work, such as a magazine or literary anthology
• a part of an audiovisual work
• a translation
• a supplementary work, such as an appendix, bibliography, or chart
• a compilation
• an instructional text
• a test
• answer material for a test, and
• an atlas.

Works Not Made for Hire

If the work you want an IC to create doesn't fall into one of the nine work-for-hire categories, it will not qualify as a work for hire, and you are not automatically entitled to own the copyright to the work. In this case, you will have to make a written assignment agreement, in which the IC transfers all or some of the copyright rights to you. For information on assignment agreements and licenses, including sample contract language, see Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements, by Stephen Fishman (Nolo).