A work for hire (or "work made for hire") is either
- a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
- a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.
Copyright law treats works made for hire differently from other works. Usually, the copyright for a work for hire belongs to an employer or other third party that directed the work's creation, rather than the work's author.
