Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition
- driving expenses, but she receives no direct employee benefits. Lois’s contributions to the paper are considered works made for hire. In the application to register Lois’s contributions, the publisher of the Georgetown Gazette should be named as the author and the work made for hire box should be checked “yes.”
- Kir Royale Records is in the business of producing classical music recordings. Stefan Brooks is a sound engineer who works for Kir Royale from time to time. Stefan performs all of his work at the company’s studio using the company’s sound mixing equipment. His supervisor closely monitors his job performance and evaluates the quality of his work. Stefan is paid an hourly wage and he receives no employee benefits. The recordings that he produces for Kir Royale Records are considered works made for hire. In the application to register these sound recordings, Kir Royale Records should be named as the author of the recordings and the work made for hire box should be checked “yes.”
- Jack Thomas is a full time programmer for Creative Computer Corporation. His job responsibilities include writing source code, designing user interfaces, and preparing program documentation. Jack creates a subroutine for a new program called Utopolis. The routine is considered a work made for hire, because Jack created this work while acting within the scope of his duties as an employee of Creative Computer Corporation. In the application to register Utopolis, Creative Computer Corporation should be named as the author and the work made for hire box should be checked “yes.”
Work created by an individual who was not acting within the scope of his or her employment
- John Bellevue is a staff composer for SoundTrax, Inc., a company that produces music for motion picture studios. While on a leave of absence, John wrote a song called “Saturdays Are the Best” to celebrate his son’s birthday. Although John is a fulltime employee of SoundTrax, he did not create this song as part of his regular duties. Therefore, the song is not a work made for hire. In the application to register “Saturdays Are the Best,” John should be named as the author of the song and the work made for hire box should be checked “no.”
- Ryan Jennings created a compilation of pharmaceutical statistics while in graduate school. When he graduated, Ryan formed Prescription Financial LLP, assigned the copyright in this compilation to the company, and appointed himself President and CEO. The compilation is not a work made for hire, because Ryan was not an employee of Prescription Financial when he created this work. In the application to register the index, Ryan should be named as the author and the work made for hire box should be checked “no.”
Work created by an individual who is not an employee
- WMAP asked Aaron Washington to create a jingle for the station. The station told Aaron that the jingle should be thirty seconds long and that it should include the sound of a helicopter. Aaron wrote the jingle at home using his own equipment and he did most of his work in the middle of the night. Aaron was paid a flat fee for this
Chapter 500 : 21
12/22/2014
