Glossary
Work made for hire
A copyright doctrine under which work created by an employee, or under a qualifying written agreement, belongs to the hiring party from the moment of creation. It often decides who can license a show made with producers, editors, and guests.
Under US copyright law it applies automatically to employees’ work within their job, and to certain commissioned works only when a written agreement says so. Freelancers fall outside it by default — a common gap in podcast and production chains where editors, producers, or co-hosts never signed written terms. The fix is assignment language in every contractor agreement.
Why it matters
It determines whether a show’s owner can license the whole work alone or needs signatures from collaborators.