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<b><i>Clause & Effect</b></i>Issues in Drafting Work-for-Hire Agreements
The common use of content created by freelance talent has made the signing of work-for-hire agreements a common requirement of entertainment production companies. But just how specific must the contract language be to make the work-for-hire provision binding on the content creator?
Under Sec. 201(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright ownership “vests initially in the author or authors of the work.” But Sec. 201(b) provides that for works-for-hire, “the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author … , and, unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them, owns all the rights in the copyright.” Sec. 101 defines a work for hire as “(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or (2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use … as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, … if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.”
MTM Productions contracted composer Richard Warren to create music for the “Remington Steele” television series. The first of several music employment agreements that Warren signed stated that MTM would “own all right, title and interest in and to [Warren's] services and the results and proceeds thereof, and all other rights granted to [MTM] … to the same extent as if … [MTM were] the employer of [Warren].”
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