Deals & Your Rights
Work Made for Hire
If your work counts as 'made for hire,' the company that hired you is the legal author from the start: you get no copyright, no ongoing royalties, and no reversion.
A work made for hire is created by an employee in their job, or specially commissioned and agreed in writing to be work-for-hire (17 U.S.C. §101). The crucial consequence: the hiring party is the legal author, so you have no copyright, no ongoing royalties, and, unlike most grants, no termination or reversion right.
Good to know
Work Made for Hire: common questions
- If I produce a track as work-for-hire, do I earn royalties?
- Typically no. The hiring party becomes the legal author and owner. Any payment is what your contract specifies up front, often a flat fee or producer points, not ongoing copyright royalties.