- Jason Berta is listed as author of the illustrations and the work made for hire question is answered “yes.” The copyright notice reads “Text and Illustrations © 2011 Mary Rimbaud.” The registration specialist will communicate with the applicant. The copyright notice indicates that this may not be a joint work and that Mary may have hired or commissioned Jason to create the illustrations. If so, Mary should be named as the author of both the text and illustrations, rather than Jason.
- Katherine Chen submits an application to register a song. Katherine is named as the author and the work made for hire box has been checked “yes.” The transfer statement reads “I paid my sister Alice to write this song for me, but we don’t have a contract or anything since she’s a member of the family.” The registration specialist will communicate with the applicant. The work does not appear to satisfy the first part of the statutory definition, because it is unlikely that Alice is Katherine’s employee. The work does not satisfy the second part of the definition, because a song is not one of the nine categories of works that may be specially ordered or commissioned.
For more information about works made for hire see Chapter 500, Section 506.1.
614.2(B)(3) Naming the Employee or the Individual Who Actually Created the Work as the Author of a Work Made for Hire
If the work is a work made for hire, the employer or the party that ordered or commissioned the work should be named as the author. In other words, if the work made for hire was created by an employee acting within the scope of his or her employment, the employer should be identified as the author of the work, not the employee. Similarly, if the work made for hire was specially ordered or commissioned, the party that ordered or commissioned the work should be identified as the author of the work, not the individual who actually created the work. If it appears that the applicant has named an employee as the author of a work made for hire, the registration specialist will communicate with the applicant.
Examples:
- An application for an advertising brochure names Susanne Taylor as the author of “text and photographs.” The work made for hire question is answered “yes.” Argonne, Inc. is named as copyright claimant and the transfer statement reads “Susanne Taylor is Owner, President, and CEO of Argonne, Inc.” The brochure describes the company’s services and the copyright notice reads “© 2012 Argonne, Inc.” The registration specialist will communicate with the applicant. The specialist will explain that senior officers or owners of organizations may be considered employees if they prepared a work while acting within the scope of their duties. If the applicant confirms that Susanne created the work on behalf of Argonne, Inc., the company should be named as the author, the work made for hire
