musicians, choreographers, composers, artists, software designers, sculptors,
photographers, movie producers, craftspersons, and other persons who create
them. In the copyright world, these people are all called “authors.”
Now for the exceptions:
• If a work is created by an employee in the course of his or her employment,
the work is called a “work made for hire” and the copyright is owned by
the employer.
• If the work is commissioned (created by an author working as an independent
contractor) and the parties sign a written work made for hire agreement,
the copyright will be owned by the commissioning party as long as
the work falls within one of the statutory categories of commissioned works
that can qualify as works made for hire.
• If the author sells the copyright to someone else, the purchasing person or
business owns the copyright.
