By Andrea Anapolsky

The “work made for hire” doctrine is a major exception to the fundamental principle that copyright ownership vests in the person who created the work. The significance of this doctrine is that, as the copyright owner of the work, an employer will own all exclusive rights to the work and may freely commercialize the property to its fullest extent. This article examines the provisions and case law underlying the “work made for hire” doctrine and provides some practical advice for employers when hiring an independent contractor or an employee who may create an original work during the course of the parties’ relationship.
Continue Reading Ownership Issues Underlying the “Work Made for Hire” Doctrine

By Dale Campbell

Companies that remove “objectionable” content from mainstream movies failed in their attempt to add a new public policy test to the fair use defense to copyright infringement. The United States District Court of Colorado issued summary judgment in favor of several big-name producers and movie studios and against several “clean movie” companies in the business of creating sanitized versions of movies. (Clean Flicks of Colorado LLC, et al. v. Stephen Soderbergh, et al., Case No. 1:02-CV-01662, in the United States District Court of the District of Colorado.)
Continue Reading Court Rejects Adoption of a Public Policy Test Component to Fair Use Doctrine