In the United States and certain other copyright jurisdictions, if a work is "made for hire", the employer, not the employee, is considered the legal author.
See Restatement § 220(2) (setting forth a non-exhaustive list of factors relevant to determining whether a hired party is an employee).
Holding back the rights can be a forceful tool when it is necessary to compel a commissioning party to fulfill its obligations.
[7] However, according to the US Copyright Office, Circular 9 "the termination provisions of the law do not apply to works made for hire.
"[1] These restrictions, in both the work for hire doctrine and the right of termination, exist out of recognition that artists frequently face unequal bargaining power in their business dealings.
Nonetheless, failure to secure a work-for-hire agreement by commissioning organizations can create difficult situations.
Unlike most works of public art, Kaskey has put strong prohibitions on the use of images of the statue, located atop the main entrance to the famous Portland Building.
As a result, it is nearly impossible to film portions of one of downtown Portland's most vibrant neighborhoods, and the city has lost out on the potential to create merchandise and souvenirs from one of its most iconic landmarks.
[10] In 1999, a work for hire related amendment was inserted into the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999.
To help determine who is an employee, the Supreme Court in CCNV v. Reid identified certain factors that characterize an "employer-employee" relationship as defined by agency law: In the United States a "work for hire" (published after 1978) receives copyright protection until 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first.
[citation needed] In the European Union, even if a Member State provides for the possibility of a legal person to be the original rightholder, then the duration of protection is in general the same as the copyright term for a personal copyright: i.e., for a literary or artistic work, 70 years from the death of the human author, or in the case of works of joint authorship, 70 years from the death of the last surviving author.
Therefore, the editor of an urtext score of an opera by Beethoven would only receive 25 years of protection, but the arrangement of the full orchestral part for piano would receive a full 70 year protection – timed from the publication of the piano arrangement and not the death of the editor.