work for hire: contract necessary?

[gamma]

What is the name of your state? AR

I've hired an artist to draw some pictures for my business. I know that in "work for hire" the copyright automatically belongs to the employer, but someone said I should still write up a contract for the artist to sign. Is it really necessary?

Thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? AR

I've hired an artist to draw some pictures for my business. I know that in "work for hire" the copyright automatically belongs to the employer, but someone said I should still write up a contract for the artist to sign. Is it really necessary?

Thanks

**A: is the artist a full fledged employee of your company or actually an IC?

 

[gamma]

The artist is not a full-time employee. I hired him through an outsourcing web site.

 

[divgradcurl]

"The artist is not a full-time employee"

Then any work he does is not "work for hire" from a copyright standpiont and the artist will own the copyrights to anything he creates, even though you are paying him. You will need a contract to make sure that the copyrights in the work you pay for gets transferred to you.

 

[gamma]

Thanks. Boy, I'm glad I came here!