Work Made For Hire Agreement
(Content Contributor)

Summary

This template is a work made for hire agreement between a company and a contractor it retains to contribute content for publication on the company's website. It confers all rights in the commissioned works (e.g., articles and all copyrights therein) to the company. This template includes practical guidance and drafting notes. While this template is a standalone agreement, it can easily be incorporated into a more comprehensive agreement that contains additional provisions relating to the employer-employee or employer-consultant relationship, such as assignment of inventions, non-competition, and/or confidentiality agreements. For guidance on work made for hire issues, see Works Made for Hire and Nimmer on Copyright § 5.03. See also Milgrim on Licensing § 5.03A and Milgrim on Licensing § 23.04. For other sample work made for hire agreements and clauses, see Work Made for Hire Agreement (Photographer), Work Made for Hire Agreement (Declaration of Employment), Composer Agreement (Work for Hire), and Work Made for Hire Clause (with Alternate Assignment Language). For a quick review of the key considerations for determining whether a work is a work made for hire, see Work Made for Hire Checklist. For guidance on invention assignments and confidentiality agreements, see Assignments of Inventions Checklist, Assignment of Employee Inventions State Law Survey, and Confidentiality Agreements. For further guidance on whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor see Independent Contractor Tests and Risks of Worker Misclassification and Independent Contractor Agreements: Major Negotiation, Drafting, and Legal Issues from Practical Guidance Labor & Employment. For an overview of key topics in copyright and other areas of intellectual property law, see Intellectual Property & Technology Fundamentals Resource Kit. For resources on copyright enforcement including materials on pre-suit preparation, analyzing potential claims, remedies and defenses, and drafting pleadings, discovery, and case resolution documents, see Copyright Enforcement Resource Kit. For resources for intellectual property transactions including licensing and motion picture related agreements, see Intellectual Property Licensing Resource Kit and Motion Picture Production Resource Kit. For resources on IP-related tasks commonly encountered by in-house counsel, see In-House Intellectual Property & Technology Resource Kit.