‘Work for Hire Contract’ or ‘Work Made For Hire’- An Overview

Introduction

Work for Hire Contract is the agreement between a person and a contractor. Work for Hire Contract help both the parties to the contract to protect their interest. Hence, work for hire contract protect the interest of both the parties i.e. the contractor and the person.

Work for Hire Contract normally execute where anybody wants to hire an independent contractor temporarily. Independent may also use this contract whenever he works with the client.

Clauses of Work for Hire Contract

1. In Work for Hire Contract, both the parties can put the timeline for completion of the work.
2. It is necessary to mention the nature of work the contractor going to carried out.
3. You can mention what kind of raw material the contractor may use while carrying out the work.
4. You have to mention details of the work schedule in the contract.
5. Milestone of the project.
6. The cost of the total project is an important part of the contract. It is also important to mention the schedule and mode of payment to the contractor.
7. It is also necessary to mention the penalty clause if the Contractor fails to complete the project within the time frame.
8. Jurisdiction of court, if any dispute arises between the contractor and a person.
9. Relationship of the parties
10. Both the parties of the contract need to sign the contract on the same page with two witnesses.

Advantages of Work for Hire Contract

Work for Hire Contract may use to ensure that the contractor does not retain any rights over the work he has created. Without any written agreement rights can not get transfer to any person who purchases the work. Hence this kind of agreement often use for hiring writer and artist for any project.

Work for hire amendment

In 1999, a work for hire related amendment has included into the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999. It has stated and particularised that sound recordings from musical artists can describe as works for hire from the recording studios

In the copyright law of the United States, a work made for hire is a work subject to copyright that is produced by an employee as part of his or her job. Or some restricted kinds of works for which all parties consent in writing to the WFH designation. So work for hire is not designed merely because parties to a contract state that the work is a work for hire. It is an exclusion to the common law that the somebody who really produces work is the lawfully identified creator of that work.

According to copyright law in the United States and some other copyright jurisdictions. If a work is “made for hire”, the employer—not the employee—is recognised as the legitimate author. In some countries, this has apprehended as corporate authorship. The thing serving as an employer may be a corporation or other legal entity, an organization, or an individual

Doctrine of WHC

Generally speaking, whenever any person start a project or any work by hiring a contractor, he need to sign a written agreement. Work for hire contract exists in the following circumstances. It has also considered ‘work made for hire’. And it has determined by United States Copyrights Act of 1976.

• work performed by an independent contractor – In this case, the work must explicitly ordered. It means that contractor must pay to produce something new. Both the parties must ensure that both the parties must sign the written agreement before starting work. Work hire contract must contain all the clauses which has mentioned hereinabove.
• work prepared by the contractor i.e. within the scope of contract- Any work created by the contractor that should within their scope of agreement can consider as work for hire.

Do I need an attorney for Wor For Hire Agreement?

You would be smart to steer from online work for hire agreement forms. Your legal situation may be different than one which has addressed in the online form. The law might have changed since the contract has written. And also your state may have specific language requirements.

It is perpetually better to have an attorney to draft the work for hire agreement. You need to make sure that attorney you hire should have experience in Intellectual Property Laws. You can get an attorney to create a form for your profession that you can use in a type of conditions. It is always better to have a separate form for employees and contract workers.

Why a person Need a Work for Hire Agreement

The main purpose of having work for hire agreement is to obtain the ownership of the inventive work. When an employee who produced a manual for a new product you launched. Your default position here is that your organisation own the product and the copyright, not the employee. But what if the employee wants to get you to the court of law, saying he or she should get the copyright and the income? If you have a written contract, it would be harder for the employee to establish that she owns the copyright.