Work Made For Hire

Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary

Definition: Work Made For Hire


Work Made For Hire


Full Definition of Work Made For Hire


A work created by an employee within the scope of employment or a work commissioned an author under contract. With a work for hire, the author and copyright owner of a work is the person who pays for it, not the person who creates it. The premise of this principle is that a business that authorizes and pays for a work owns the rights to the work. There are two distinct ways that a work will be classified as “made for hire”. the work is created by an employee within the scope of employment; or the work is commissioned, is the subject of a written agreement, and falls within a special group of categories (a contribution to a collective work, a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation, an atlas, an instructional text, a test, or as answer material for a test). The work made for hire status of a work affects the length of copyright protection and termination rights.


Cite Term


To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.

Page URL
https://payrollheaven.com/define/work-made-for-hire/
Modern Language Association (MLA):
Work Made For Hire. PayrollHeaven.com. Payroll & Accounting Heaven Ltd.
May 18, 2024 https://payrollheaven.com/define/work-made-for-hire/.
Chicago Manual of Style (CMS):
Work Made For Hire. PayrollHeaven.com. Payroll & Accounting Heaven Ltd.
https://payrollheaven.com/define/work-made-for-hire/ (accessed: May 18, 2024).
American Psychological Association (APA):
Work Made For Hire. PayrollHeaven.com. Retrieved May 18, 2024
, from PayrollHeaven.com website: https://payrollheaven.com/define/work-made-for-hire/

Definition Sources


Definitions for Work Made For Hire are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:

  • A Dictionary of Economics (Oxford Quick Reference)
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Accounting
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Business & Management

This glossary post was last updated: 23rd April, 2020 | 0 Views.