A Work For Hire Contract establishes that you will own the rights to any creative
materials that someone else creates while working for you. While the idea of a work
for hire agreement might sound a bit extreme or unfair, there are actually many
instances when a work for hire form makes a lot of sense.
If you employ a designer a work for hire contract
is an important asset. The last thing that you want is for your designer to claim
ownership over work that you paid them to create. For example, if your designer
worked on a great new logo for a client, you wouldn’t want that designer to be able
to claim that they owned the rights to the logo. This is where a work for hire contract
comes in. The contract would stipulate that the rights to any work that they create
under your employment would belong to you.
There are other examples of situations where it makes sense to use a work for hire
agreement as well:
- If you ask someone to help you write a book
- If you hire session musicians to contribute to a recording
- If you hire someone to write the content for your website
Any time you hire someone else to develop creative material for you, it’s a good
idea to ask them to sign a work for hire agreement before the work begins. While
you can sometimes get away with having them sign a work for hire contract after
the work has been completed, it’s typically a better idea to have them sign it before
the work begins.
If a work already exists and you want to acquire the rights to that work, there
are other options. You can use an
assignment of copyright form or a licensing form to legally use the material.
Click and Copyright offers a Work For Hire Form that is easy to use and includes
instructions for just $4.95. Other companies are typically charging $14.95
or more of the same thing.
All of our forms are included with our
verified package and
annual package