Clauses About Works Made for Hire

These clauses make the most drastic changes in the creator's status: by designating the work in question a “work-for-hire” the contract transfers all copyright rights away from the creator and to the “employer.” The "employer" is not necessarily limited to the person or company that pays the creator a regular salary; under certain circumstances, the person or company that commissions freelance creators, can also be the “employer for hire.” If the work is “for hire,” all doubts about ownership of rights are resolved against the actual creator. Given the extreme exploiter-friendliness of the “works made for hire” designation, work-for-hire language can be found even when, under the copyright statute, the work in question is not eligible to be a work for hire.