Who Owns a Copyright?

The author owns it first.

Copyright subsists in original works of authorship from the moment they are fixed in a tangible medium of expression: written, recorded, coded, drawn. It belongs initially to the author, the person who created the expression, and not to the executive who commissioned it, the company that paid for it, or the client who suggested the idea. Ideas are not protected by copyright; only their expression is.

Employment, contracts, and joint authorship are the ways ownership moves from the author to someone else. If none of them applies, the author remains the owner.

Employment: work made for hire.

When an employee creates a work within the scope of employment, the work is a "work made for hire," and the employer is considered the author from the start. No assignment document is needed; ownership vests in the employer automatically, unless the parties expressly agree otherwise in a signed writing.

Disputes usually turn on whether the creator was an employee acting within the scope of employment. Courts consider factors such as the hiring party's right to control the work, who supplied the tools, where and when the work was done, and how the creator was paid and taxed (Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989)). Work done by founders before a company exists, work employees create on their own time with their own equipment, and unclear contractor or employee status are common sources of disputes.

Certain specially commissioned works can also be works made for hire, but only if the work falls within one of the specific statutory categories enumerated in 17 U.S.C. § 101(2) and the parties sign a written agreement expressly so providing. Software commissioned from a contractor, for example, is not among the categories and generally does not qualify; it needs an assignment instead. U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire.

Contractors: assignment required.

Independent contractors own what they create (the logo, the website copy, the codebase, the video) unless ownership is transferred in a signed writing. A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner.

An invoice is not an assignment, and a statement of work describing deliverables is not an assignment by itself. "Work for hire" language in a contractor agreement does not transfer ownership unless the work falls within a statutory category, although courts may treat it as evidence of an intent to assign. Many agreements include a backup assignment clause for this reason.

Contractor agreements commonly include a signed assignment of all copyright and other intellectual property in the deliverables, executed before or with the work rather than obtained years later during due diligence.

Joint authorship.

When two or more authors create a work with the intention that their contributions merge into a single whole, they are joint authors, and each co-owns the entire copyright. Any joint owner can grant a nonexclusive license without the others' permission, subject to a duty to account to the co-owners for profits. The leading decision on this point, Davis v. Blige, is from the Second Circuit. An exclusive license, by contrast, requires all co-owners. IP Licenses and Assignments describes how licensing arrangements are structured.

Joint authorship disputes often arise after a work becomes valuable, when a collaborator claims co-ownership. Courts look for an intent to merge contributions and at each party's creative control. Agreeing on contributions, ownership shares, and licensing authority in writing before the work has value avoids many of these disputes.

AI-assisted works.

Copyright protects only human authorship. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025), the D.C. Circuit held that a work generated entirely by an AI system, with no human author, is not eligible for copyright, and the Supreme Court declined to review the decision on March 2, 2026. The Copyright Office's position is that a work combining human and AI-generated material can be registered for its human-authored portions, with the AI-generated material disclosed and excluded from the claim. How much human creative control is enough remains unsettled, so check the "Law checked through" date above.

Documents that reduce ownership disputes.

• Employee IP agreements: signed at hiring, confirming that work product within scope belongs to the company and obligating assignment of anything arguable.
• Contractor assignments: signed writings assigning all IP in deliverables, with present-tense assignment language ("hereby assigns"), not mere promises to assign later.
• Collaboration agreements: ownership splits, licensing authority, and accounting duties settled before creation.
• Acquisition diligence: chain-of-title review confirming that every link from author to seller is documented. Gaps found in diligence can affect the purchase price or the deal itself.

Registration.

Copyright exists from fixation; registration is not required for the right to exist (§ 102(a)), but registration unlocks enforcement.

No civil action for infringement of a United States work may be instituted until preregistration or registration has been made (§ 411(a)). For U.S. works, filing an application alone does not satisfy the requirement: in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, the Supreme Court held that "registration ... has been made" when the Copyright Office registers the work (or refuses registration); the application alone does not suffice. Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com (opinion).

The most valuable remedies have a timing rule: statutory damages and attorney's fees are unavailable for infringement that began before the effective date of registration, unless the owner registers within three months after the work's first publication (§ 412). For this reason, many owners register early and track the three-month window after first publication.

Common misunderstandings.

"We paid for it, so we own it."

Payment transfers ownership of the copy, not the copyright, unless employment or a signed assignment moved the rights.

"The contractor's agreement says 'work for hire,' so we're fine."

Only if the work fits a statutory category and the agreement is signed. Most contractor deliverables do not qualify, which is why agreements often include a backup assignment.

"Our employee built it at home, so it's ours."

Not necessarily. Scope of employment depends on the facts, and personal projects using personal resources may fall outside it.

"Owning shares in the company means we each own its copyright."

Not by itself. A company's shareholders or members do not individually own copyright held by the company. An agreement involving company-owned copyright must be made by someone with authority to act for the company. If individuals instead own a copyright jointly, their licensing rights must be analyzed as copyright co-owners.

Sources.

• 17 U.S.C. § 102(a): copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. uscode.house.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• 17 U.S.C. § 101 (definition of "work made for hire") and § 201(b): the employer is considered the author of a work made for hire and owns the copyright absent a signed written agreement otherwise. § 101 (law.cornell.edu); § 201 (uscode.house.gov) (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989): factors for deciding whether a hired creator is an employee acting within the scope of employment. Justia (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• 17 U.S.C. § 204(a): a transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless in a writing signed by the owner. uscode.house.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• 17 U.S.C. § 411(a): no civil action for infringement of a United States work until preregistration or registration. uscode.house.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• 17 U.S.C. § 412: no statutory damages or attorney's fees for infringement commenced before registration, except where registration follows within three months after first publication. copyright.gov (Title 17) (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. 296 (2019): for U.S. works, § 411(a)'s requirement that registration "has been made" is satisfied by the Copyright Office's registration (or refusal), not by the mere filing of an application. supremecourt.gov (opinion) (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire; specially commissioned works qualify as works made for hire only within the statutory categories and with a signed written agreement. copyright.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• Davis v. Blige, 505 F.3d 90 (2d Cir. 2007): each joint owner of a copyright may grant non-exclusive licenses without co-owner consent, subject to a duty to account; exclusive licenses require all co-owners. (A Second Circuit decision; Texas is in the Fifth Circuit.)
• "Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence," 88 FR 16190 (Mar. 16, 2023). federalregister.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• U.S. Copyright Office, "Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability" (Jan. 2025). copyright.gov (retrieved September 30, 2026).
• Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025), cert. denied, No. 25-449 (U.S. Mar. 2, 2026): the Copyright Act requires a human author. D.C. Circuit opinion; Supreme Court docket (retrieved September 30, 2026).

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This guide is general information, not legal advice. Law checked through September 30, 2026. See the Disclaimer.