Term used in Copyright Law to describe the situation in which an employer hires a writer to write a work for which the employer will hold the copyright.
a work (be it artistic, literary, dramatic, or musical) created by one person for another
a work created by an employee in the course of his/her duties or a commissioned work in which the artist and commissioner agree the work is for hire
a "writing" (as defined under copyright law) arising from an employment relationship that is within the scope of that relationship
paid writing work usually without a byline and the writer does not own any of the writing or has any claims to it.
To ve employed by a company as an artist while retaining copyright to your work, unless you have signed an agreement to the contrary.
Generally speaking, if you write something, you're the author and the copyright owner. However, if you write something for an employer during the scope of your normal employment, or if you've been commissioned or specially employed to write something as a contribution to a motion picture, then your literary material can be considered a " work for hire". Why is this important? When we're dealing with a work for hire, it's the employer, not the employee (the person actually doing the writing) who is considered the legal author and copyright holder. Practically every screenplay sold to signatory companies is a work for hire. For reference, here's the technical definition of the term:(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as *a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work*, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.
A job where the writer is commissioned to write a piece, but does not receive a byline, and does not retain rights to the work.
A copyrightable work created by an employee or a contractor hired to do so.
A type of agreement in which the writer or designer sells the complete rights to a work to a publisher.
A work made for hire (sometimes abbreviated to work for hire) is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized author of that work. According to copyright law in most countries, if a work is "made for hire", the employer—not the employee—is considered the legal author. In some countries, this is known as corporate authorship.