WHO OWNS IT?
Situations and contracts determine whether an employee or employer owns what is created at work
Who owns work product created during the normal course of business — is it the employer or the employee?
Work product, or any copyrightable content, that is created by an employee is owned by the employer if the creation was within the scope of t hat employee's employment and the content was created while the author was an employee.
This “Work for Hire” rule is a variant of the normal rule of U.S. copyright law wherein the author is the owner.
When determining whether the creation was within the scope of employment, you should consider whether t he content was created in the work space and during work hours, whether the creation was within the employee's job description or regular duties, as well as whether the creation was done to serve the employer.
If the answer to these questions is yes, then the creation was probably within the scope of employee' s employment.
What about when the content is created by a contractor?
Content t hat i s created by an independent contractor can still be owned by the hiring party under limited circumstances.
A hiring party will own the content if the hiring party specially ordered the work, the contractor agreed in writing that the work was made for hire, and the work is one of a few specific types of works designated by Congress.
I should also point out that content created by a contractor may still fall under the “Work for Hire” rule and be owned by the hiring party, if the contractor is considered an employee.
Whether a contractor is an employee or not is not a determination made based on any one f actor. Many different factors can play a role in determining employee status, some of which include: where the work is done, who owns the tools used to create the content, the amount of creative control the hiring party has, the length of the relationship between the contractor and the hiring party, the tax status of the contractor and the benefits provided to the contractor.
Can copyright ownership be specified by an agreement?
Copyright ownership generally can be specified through an agreement, such as an assignment. These agreements c an be made between an employer and an employee or a hiring party and an independent contractor.
The ownership designated in these agreements can be contrary to the “Work for Hire” ownership rule or the default author as the owner rule. Under The Copyright Act, however, an agreement such as this must be in writing.
Even with the ownership of the copyright determined by a written agreement, an owner should still be aware that the original ownership status of the copyright can affect the copyright's duration, the artist's termination rights over the copyright and the artist's moral rights.