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copyright.gov
CIRCULAR
30
To register a work with the U.S. Copyright Oce, you gener-
ally must identify the author or authors of that work. In
addition, you must identify the party that owns the copyright
in the work. Ordinarily, the author is the person or persons
who actually created the work you intend to register. “Works
made for hire” are an exception to this rule.
1
For legal pur-
poses, when a work is a “work made for hire,” the author is
not the individual who actually created the work. Instead, the
party that hired the individual is considered both the author
and the copyright owner of the work.
Whether a work is a work made for hire is determined by
facts in existence at the time the work is created. There are
two situations in which a work made for hire is produced:
(1) when the work is created by an employee as part of the
employee’s regular duties and (2) when a certain type of work
is created as a result of an express written agreement between
the creator and a party specially ordering or commissioning
the work. When a work is produced under these conditions,
the employer or the party ordering or commissioning the
work is considered the author and copyright owner.
The work made for hire concept can be complicated and
has serious consequences for both the individual who cre-
ates a work and the hiring party who is considered to be
the author and copyright owner of that work. This circular
draws on the Copyright Act and judicial interpretation to
provide a general introduction to this topic and answer
common questions. For more information, see chapter 500,
section 506 or chapter 600, section 614 of the Compendium
of U.S. Copyright Oce Practices.
A copyrightable work is “made for hire”
in two situations:
• When it is created by an employee as
part of the employee’s regular duties
• When a certain type of work is
created as a result of an express
written agreement between
the creator and a party specially
ordering or commissioning it
When a work is a made for hire,
the hiring or commissioning party
is considered the author and the
copyright owner.
Works Made for Hire
Works Made for Hire 2
Denition in the Copyright Law
The denition of work made for hire in the Copyright Act applies to works created on or aer Janu-
ary 1, 1978. For works created prior to 1978, see chapter 2100 of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright
Oce Practices. Section 101 of the Copyright Act denes a “work made for hire” as
A. A work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment
or
B. A work specially ordered or commissioned for use
1. as a contribution to a collective work,
2. as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work,
3. as a translation,
4. as a supplementary work,
5. as a compilation,
6. as an instructional text,
7. as a test,
8. as answer material for a test, or
9. as an atlas,
if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be con-
sidered a work made for hire.
A “collective work” is a work, such as a periodical, anthology, or encyclopedia, in which a number
of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a
collective whole.
A “motion picture” is an audiovisual work consisting of a series of related images that, when
shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any.
An “audiovisual work” is a work consisting of a series of related images that are intrinsically
intended to be shown by the use of machines or devices, together with accompanying sounds, if any.
This denition holds regardless of the nature of the material objects in which the work is embodied.
A “supplementary work” is a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct to a work by
another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding, illustrating, explaining, revising, com-
menting upon, or assisting in the use of the other work, such as forewords, aerwords, pictorial
illustrations, maps, charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer material for tests,
bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes.
A “compilation” is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting material or data
that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole consti-
tutes an original work of authorship.
An “instructional text” is a literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and
intended for use in systematic instructional activities.
Works Made for Hire 3
“Scope of Employment”
For an employee’s work to be considered a work made for hire, the work must be created within
the employee’s “scope of employment.” The Copyright Act does not dene the terms “employee,”
“employer,” or “scope of employment.” In its decision in Community for Creative Non-Violence v.
Reed, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Congress intended these terms “to be understood in light of
agency law,” which governs employer-employee relationships, and that the courts should rely “on
the general common law of agency, rather than on the law of any particular [s]tate, to give meaning
to these terms.” Questions you may need to consider include:
• What skill was required to create the work?
• Where was the work created? Did the hiring party provide the space, materials, or tools to
create the work?
• How long was the relationship between the parties? Did the hiring party have the right to
assign other projects besides the one under review? Could the hiring party direct the creator
when and how long to work?
• How was the creator paid? Did the hiring party oer employee benets? Did the hiring party
remove taxes from the creator’s pay?
• Does the creator have his or her own business? Was the creator able to hire and pay assistants?
• Was the work created as part of the regular business hours of the hiring party? Was the work
created pursuant to the creator’s usual tasks? Was the work created during the creator’s autho-
rized work time?
Specially Ordered or Commissioned Works
A specially ordered or commissioned work is considered a work made for hire if it satises all of the
following four criteria:
1. The work must fall within one of the nine categories of works listed above that are eligible to
be specially ordered or commissioned as works made for hire.
2. There must be a written agreement between the party that ordered or commissioned the
work and individual(s) who actually created the work.
3. In the written agreement, the parties must expressly agree that the work is to be considered a
work made for hire.
4. The agreement must be signed by all parties.
If a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire.
Works Made for Hire 4
Copyright in Works Made for Hire
A work’s status as a work made for hire aects the authorship, copyright ownership, copyright term,
and termination rights in that work.
Authorship
If a work is a work made for hire, the employer or the party that specially ordered or commissioned
that work is the author of that work.
Copyright Ownership
If a work is made for hire, the employer or the party that specially ordered or commissioned that
work is the initial owner of the copyright in the work unless the employer or the commissioning
party has signed a written agreement to the contrary with the work’s creator.
Copyright Term
The term of copyright protection in a work made for hire is 95 years from the date of publication or
120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires rst. For information about copyright term,
see Duration of Copyright (Circular 15A).
Termination Rights
Under certain circumstances, an author or the author’s heirs can terminate an exclusive or
nonexclusive transfer or license of the copyright in a particular work under sections 203, 304(c),
and/or 304(d) of the Copyright Act. These termination provisions, however, do not apply to works
made for hire. For more information, see chapter 2300, section 2310 of the Compendium.
Registration
When you apply to register a work, you, not the Copyright Oce, must determine whether the
work is a work made for hire. You should base your determination on the facts that existed when
the work was created. The examiner will generally accept your representation that a work is a work
made for hire unless your representation is contradicted by information known to the examiner
or available in the registration materials or the Oce’s records. If your claim appears unusual or
implausible, the examiner may communicate with you or refuse registration. For more information,
see chapter 500, section 506, and chapter 600, section 614, of the Compendium.
Questionnaire
The parties involved must determine whether or not a work is a work made for hire. The Copyright
Oce cannot provide legal advice about the status of a work. However, the following questions
may help you decide if a work created on or aer January 1, 1978, ts within the law’s denition of
a work made for hire. The questions are derived from chapter 500, section 506, of the Compendium,
which contains examples illustrating some of the factors that indicate whether a work does or does
not qualify as a work made for hire.
Works Made for Hire 5
: Was the work created by an employee?
Yes? Proceed to Question 2.
No? Proceed to Question 3.
: Did the employee create the work while acting within the scope of employment?
Yes? The work is a work made for hire.
No? Proceed to Question 3.
: Is there a written agreement between the commissioning party and the creator of the
work?
Yes? Proceed to Question 4.
No? The work is not a work made for hire.
: Was the written agreement signed by the commissioning party?
Yes? Proceed to Question 5.
No? The work is not a work made for hire.
: Was the written agreement signed by the creator of the work?
Yes? Proceed to Question 6.
No? The work is not a work made for hire.
: Did the parties expressly agree that the work shall be considered a “work made for
hire”?
Yes? Proceed to Question 7.
No? The work is not a work made for hire.
: Does the work fall into one or more of the following categories?
• An atlas
• A test
• Answer material for a test
• A translation
• A part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
• A compilation
• A contribution to a collective work
• A supplementary work
• An instructional text
Yes? The work is a work made for hire.
No? The work is not a work made for hire.
Works Made for Hire 6
1. This circular is intended as an overview of works made for hire. The authoritative source for U.S.
copyright law is the Copyright Act, codied in Title 17 of the United States Code. Copyright Oce
regulations are codied in Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Copyright Oce practices and
procedures are summarized in the third edition of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Oce Practices,
cited as the Compendium. The copyright law, regulations, and the Compendium are available on the
Copyright Oce website at www.copyright.gov.
Works Made for Hire 7
1
U. S. Copyright Office · Library of Congress · 101 Independence Avenue SE · Washington, DC 20559 · copyright.gov
CIRCULAR 30 REVISED: 08 /2024 US GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE/2024
For Further Information
By Internet
The copyright law, the Compendium, electronic registration, application forms, regulations,
and related materials are available on the Copyright Oce website at www.copyright.gov.
By Email
To send an email inquiry, click the Contact Us link on the Copyright Oce website.
By Telephone
For general information, call the Copyright Public Information Oce at (202) 707-3000 or
1-877-476-0778 (toll free). Sta members are on duty from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, eastern time,
Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. To request application forms or circulars by
postal mail, call (202) 707-9100 or 1-877-476-0778 and leave a recorded message.
By Regular Mail
Write to
Library of Congress
U.S. Copyright Oce
Outreach and Education Section
101 Independence Avenue, SE #6304
Washington, DC 20559-6304
