Editing Work for hire (section)

{{Short description|Work created by an employee or under commission}}
In [[copyright law]], a '''work made for hire''' ('''work for hire''' or '''WFH''') is a work whose copyright is initially owned by an entity other than the actual creator as a result of an employment relationship or, in some cases, a commission. It is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized author of that work.

In the [[United States]], [[United Kingdom]], and several other jurisdictions, if a work is created by an employee as part of their job duties, the employer is considered the legal author or first owner of copyright. In some countries, this is known as '''corporate authorship'''. The entity serving as an employer may be a corporation or other legal entity, an organization, or an individual.<ref name="circ30">{{cite web|url=https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ30.pdf|title=Circular 30: Works Made for Hire|date=August 2024|publisher=[[United States Copyright Office]]|access-date=May 21, 2025}}</ref>

The work for hire doctrine originated in [[United States copyright law]], but other countries have adopted similar legal principles. In the jurisprudence of [[copyright law of the United Kingdom|the United Kingdom]] and [[Copyright law of India|India]], the hiring party is referred to as the '''first owner of copyright'''.<ref name="phanse2022">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.juscorpus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/179.-Preet-S.-Phanse.pdf|title=The doctrine of ‘Work for Hire’: A Critical Survey of US, UK & Indian Cases|last=Phanse|first=Preet S.|date=October 27, 2022|access-date=May 21, 2025|journal=Jus Corpus Law Journal}}</ref>