Work for hire

In copyright law, a work made for hire (work for hire or WFH) is a work whose copyright is initially owned by an entity other than the actual creator as a result of an employment relationship or, in some cases, a commission. It is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized author of that work.

In the United States, United Kingdom, and several other jurisdictions, if a work is created by an employee as part of their job duties, the employer is considered the legal author or first owner of copyright. In some countries, this is known as corporate authorship. The entity serving as an employer may be a corporation or other legal entity, an organization, or an individual.^[1]

The work for hire doctrine originated in United States copyright law, but other countries have adopted similar legal principles. In the jurisprudence of the United Kingdom and India, the hiring party is referred to as the first owner of copyright.^[2]