Derivative Work May Qualify As ‘Work Made for Hire’ Under Copyright Act

• Key Holding: Absent a written agreement to the contrary, an employer owns the author’s copyright to a derivative work of a preexisting copyrighted work when the derivative was a work made for hire.
• Potential Takeaway: Along the way, the court points out Ninth Circuit precedent to the effect that a software copyright owner’s license to a third party to create derivative works of the software may be an implied or oral license.

Absent a written agreement to the contrary, an employer holds the author’s copyright to a work-made-for-hire of original, non-trivial material contributed by its employee to a preexisting copyrighted ...