Re: Re: Owner as author?

On Thursday, April 14, 2005, at 02:00 PM, Heather Vargas wrote:

> This agency/employee issue is circular. 

How so? If one uses agency law principles to distinguish between an employee and an independent contractor, where is the circle?

> The Supreme Court said in CCNV v. Reid that the determination
> regarding whether one is an employee or not is made using traditional
> agency principles.  Clearly there is a distinction between Keith's
> Exxon example, Steve's CEO example, and the Mom and Pop scenario I am
> dealing with (which does not involve software, by the way).

If the owners are employees, then the owners are employees because they are employees, not because they are owners. Even in the smallest business mere ownership does not mean one is also an employee or even an agent. Some businesses have investors who do nothing but put up the money. It is not the size of the organization that matters, it is the relationship between the individual and the business that matters.

-- 
Prof. Steven D. Jamar                                     vox:  
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Howard University School of Law                           fax:  
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