What is a work-made-for-hire and how does it affect ownership of a composition?

What is a work-made-for-hire and how does it affect ownership of a composition?

• A. A work produced under a grant with shared ownership.
• B. A work created by independent contractor with full ownership by composer.
• C. A work produced by a band in a studio with joint ownership.
• D. A work created by employee or specially commissioned person who assigns ownership to employer or commissioner.

Answer: (D)

A work-made-for-hire is a work created by someone as part of employment or as a specially commissioned piece where there’s an agreement that ownership belongs to the employer or commissioner. In this setup, the employer or commissioning party is treated as the author and owns the copyright from the moment of creation, even if someone else did the actual composing. This matches the described scenario: the work is produced by an employee (or a specially commissioned creator) and ownership is assigned to the employer or commissioner. That assignment is what fixes who owns the rights. Why the other descriptions don’t fit: a grant with shared ownership isn’t the standard work-made-for-hire arrangement and doesn’t automatically vest ownership in the employer. An independent contractor with the composer keeping full ownership isn’t a work-made-for-hire. A band in a studio with joint ownership describes collaboration or partnership, not a work-made-for-hire under the employer/commissioner framework.

A work-made-for-hire is a work created by someone as part of employment or as a specially commissioned piece where there’s an agreement that ownership belongs to the employer or commissioner. In this setup, the employer or commissioning party is treated as the author and owns the copyright from the moment of creation, even if someone else did the actual composing.

This matches the described scenario: the work is produced by an employee (or a specially commissioned creator) and ownership is assigned to the employer or commissioner. That assignment is what fixes who owns the rights.

Why the other descriptions don’t fit: a grant with shared ownership isn’t the standard work-made-for-hire arrangement and doesn’t automatically vest ownership in the employer. An independent contractor with the composer keeping full ownership isn’t a work-made-for-hire. A band in a studio with joint ownership describes collaboration or partnership, not a work-made-for-hire under the employer/commissioner framework.