Re: Re: Owner as author?

That was my initial reaction too, but it seems an odd result under the circumstances. An employer is deemed the author of a work made for hire because a corporation can only act through its employees. In these circumstances, the owner is the employer. It seems even more logical then that an entity acts through its owners who therefore should be deemed to have created a work in the line of business of the corporation as a "work made for hire." Of course, the statute only says "employees." But in CCNV v. Reid, the Supreme Court said that "employee" is determined under traditional agency principals. Who is more logically an "agent" of an entity than its owner?

At 02:50 PM 4/11/2005 -0400, John wrote:
>>I have an interesting situation in which the part-owner of a company (we'll call him Bob) created a work subject to copyright protection intended for use by the company. Bob was employed elsewhere and drew no salary or benefits from the company he owned. He created the work and gave it to his company to use. Work made for hire? Assignment? Case law?
>
>There's ton of caselaw. My initial reaction is that he gave the company a copy of his software and an implied license to use it, which should be revocable.
>
>John Noble
>
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Received on Wed Apr 13 2005 - 00:55:02 GMT