Legal Question in Entertainment Law in Washington

Re: Work for Hire Agreements

Alot depends on the nature of the work and the relationship of the artist to the studio and other members of the performing group. Are they all indie? Any in union? Call or email for further assistance. I have contract experience with studios and musicians.

Re: Work for Hire Agreements

Kara,

Your questions are pretty broad, and the answers can depend on many factors: is your record company taking any publishing percentage? Is the studio going to take any songwriting credit?

There are also various types of producer agreements. Please contact me directly if you want to discuss further.

Re: Work for Hire Agreements

Hi Kara, You would need to be more specific on exactly what you want included, to be protected against, etc...Unfortunately, there are standard forms you can find online, but a personal, individualized agreement(s) would be MUCH more beneficial. You should strongly consider consulting with an attorney directly in respect to what your project agreements should specifically include, etc...If you would like our prompt, affordable legal assistance in this matter, Kara, contact us directly today for a free phone consultation.

Re: Work for Hire Agreements

Kara, you need a work-for-hire agreement because otherwise the copyright law will consider the creator of a work to be its owner unless the creator is an employee and the creation was made as part of such employment. If there are musicians, writers, performers and others who are making original creative contributions of material that your company wants to own, and those individuals are not doing the work within the scope of their employment, then the way to have your company own the results of their creative work is to have them sign a work-for-hire agreement. My colleagues' advice that you should work with an attorney on this and any other agreements your company may require is good advice.