Note: I am not an attorney. The following are generalizations only based on my study of copyright law and are not meant to be construed as legal advice. If you have a question, consult a competent attorney specializing in copyrights and intellectual property law.

A work for hire is a work which is created and turned over to another person for a flat fee. No royalties for publication or performance are paid the creator, and the rights to the work belong to the other party.

A work for hire requires that a number of conditions be met. If these conditions are not met, the work is not considered a work for hire. Among the conditions:

• the work must be created to fulfill to a specific request, not a casual expression of interest in such a creation
• it must be a movie or video soundtrack, a musical contribution to a collective work (such as an album or a songbook), an arrangement of an existing piece of music, or some other form specified in the copyright statutes, etc.
• there must be an agreement, signed by both parties, that this is a work for hire.

Since a contract specifying this is a work for hire is a necessary condition to designation of work for hire, any musician who creates a piece at someone else's request probably retains ownership of the rights in the absence of a work for hire contract. Therefore, any commissioned piece, such as by a symphony orchestra to a composer, is likely to remain the property of the composer rather than the commissioning body. An exception would be if the contract the composer signs states that the composers gives all rights to the commissioning body.

copyright 1996-2002, Martha Beth Lewis