Re: Work for Hire and Copyright Assignment

On 1/21/99, Stephen Fishman <sfish55[_at_]yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, 17 Jan 1999, Barbara Gall <bgall[_at_]sah.com> wrote:
> >
> > I seem to recall some case (Second Circuit, maybe?) which held that a
> > copyright assignment contained in a work-for-hire agreement executed
> > before the work was created was invalid. Help?
>
> I think the case you mean is Schiller & Schmidt, Inc.v. Nordisco
> Corp., 969 F2d 410 (7th Cir. 1992).

Does this mean that work for hire provisions with the standard fall back language (i.e. -- "in the event that this Agreement is determined not to be a work for hire, Contractor hereby assigns all rights, etc.") would not be a valid way of protecting against a determination that the work was not a work for hire? If so, how does one protect his or her client?

Michael Leventhal
<michael[_at_]wiredlaw.com> Received on Fri Jan 22 1999 - 17:29:37 GMT