doing for him is work-for-hire. In the agreement you give the publisher full ownership and
control
of the material. You would not be allowed to sell reprints or to use
the same content at any time in the future. This is different from
all
rights
in that with all rights, the rights will automatically revert to you
after 35 years. Not so with work for hire. If you are selling a piece
to a publication as a freelance
writer,
that does not qualify as a work for hire. Typically, writing can be
considered work for hire when it has been created as part of the job
you do for your employer. What you write in that situation belongs
to the employer.
However,
there are a few legitimate situations in which you may be asked to
sign a work-for-hire agreement in connection with a writing
assignment you are given. One example might be if you write Sunday
school curriculum. Because such material is used in multi-year
cycles, the publisher needs to be able to reuse it in the future
without having to go back to the writers for permission. In such a
case, signing the work-for-hire contract is legitimate—especially
since it is not something you could sell elsewhere anyway.
If
a publisher asks you to sign a work-for-hire contract on a piece you
submit, or even one you write on assignment, you need to challenge
them. In most cases, if challenged, they will back down.
To
see a sample of a work-for-hire agreement, go to:
http://www.vlaa.org/assets/documents/Sample%20Work-For-Hire%20Agreement.pdf.
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