| name | work-for-hire-agreement |
| title | Work for Hire Agreement |
| description | Drafts a U.S. Work for Hire Agreement under 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 and 201(b) with fallback IP assignment, creator warranties, and indemnification. Trigger when commissioning software, designs, content, or other creative work requiring clear IP ownership, or when drafting WFH clauses for consulting and service agreements. |
| author | CaseMark |
| author_url | https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/work-for-hire-agreement |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | us |
| practice | ip |
| language | en |
| tags | ["agreement","drafting","transactional"] |
Work for Hire Agreement
Draft a U.S. Work for Hire Agreement vesting all IP in the hiring party, with a fallback assignment clause if WFH status fails under the Copyright Act.
Quick Start
Gather before drafting:
- Parties — legal names, entity types, formation states, addresses
- Work scope — deliverables, specifications, format, acceptance criteria
- Compensation — flat fee / hourly / milestone; payment schedule and triggers
- Statutory category — does the work fit one of the nine WFH categories? (see below)
- Governing law — hiring party's state (default) or negotiated jurisdiction
Core Workflow
1. Recitals & Definitions
Define "Work," "Hiring Party," "Creator," "Deliverables," "Confidential Information." Identify the applicable statutory WFH category if any.
2. Work for Hire Designation
Nine statutory categories (17 U.S.C. § 101):
| Category | Example |
|---|
| Contribution to a collective work | Article in a journal |
| Part of a motion picture / audiovisual work | Video content |
| Translation | — |
| Supplementary work | Forewords, indexes, illustrations |
| Compilation | — |
| Instructional text | — |
| Test | — |
| Answer material for a test | — |
| Atlas | — |
If the work falls outside these categories (e.g., standalone software), the WFH clause fails for independent contractors — the fallback assignment clause becomes the operative transfer mechanism.
Include: "The Work shall be considered a 'work made for hire' as defined under 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 and 201(b). Hiring Party shall be deemed the author and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to the Work from the moment of creation."
3. Fallback Assignment
Self-executing assignment triggered if WFH status is not recognized:
- All copyright, moral rights, and related IP — worldwide, in perpetuity
- All exploitation rights: reproduction, distribution, adaptation, public display, performance, derivative works
