Especially at small companies, employers tend to prefer contracting employees to assist in temporary business operations or isolated work projects. This is because, that way, they do not have to pay for the overhead of bringing on another full-time, salaried employee, along with providing them with the necessary healthcare benefits, retirement plan, etc. That said, independent contractors are often asked to sign work-for-hire agreements before onboarding, especially when they are anticipated to deal with creative, original works for the business. If you are in this position professionally, please read on to discover the factors to strongly consider before signing a work-for-hire agreement and how a seasoned New Jersey copyright lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can advise you before putting pen to paper.
What should I consider before signing a work-for-hire copyright agreement?
Before signing a work-for-hire agreement, you must understand what it is and exactly what you are consenting to. So, under United States Copyright Law, the creator of an original work may retain ownership rights automatically and by default. This is unless a work-for-hire agreement is added to the mix. This legal arrangement holds that the commissioning party (i.e., an employer) is considered the author and owner of a copyrighted work.
In essence, by signing this document, you are signing away and transferring your given copyright ownership rights over to the employer who temporarily contracted you. This means that, once you are done working for this company or employer, you may be barred from reselling or licensing the original work to any other third party for further profits. And so, when you are presented with this agreement, you must carefully consider the following elements:
- Whether you are being fairly compensated for your contribution to the original work, considering you will not receive further profits from it.
- Whether the agreement limits your ability to do other work for profit with other companies while you are working on this project for them.
- Whether you have the opportunity to negotiate a limited reselling or licensing of the original work without relinquishing full ownership rights.
- Whether the work you are contracted to produce even qualifies as “work-for-hire” (i.e., a collective work, an audiovisual work, etc).
Why should I hire a legal representative before signing this agreement?
The way we see it, it is better to hire us before you sign a work-for-hire agreement, so that we may guide you on what you are signing up for and whether it works in your best interest. This is as opposed to hiring us after this contract is set in stone, and you want to get out of it because it affects you negatively. Or, worse, once your former company or employer is suing you for infringing upon their copyright rights and breaching this contract.
Before you find yourself in an even worse position, you must retain legal representation from The Ingber Law Firm. A competent Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer from our law firm will guide you on what to do next.