Day 3 Thoughts

Tyler: I am wondering if the terms in AMT's conditions of use that works prepared by turkers are to be considered works for hire would be considered valid. My initial instinct is that it would not necessarily be so.

To paraphrase, the Copyright Act defines a work for hire as (17 U.S.C. 101):

• 1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment
  • The factors to make determination were listed in the CCNV v Reid case (790 U.S. 730, 1989)
    • The two most important factors are provision of employee benefits and tax treatment (from Aymes v. Bonelli, 980 F.2d 857, 1992)
• OR 2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work if:
  • 1. category: is one of:
    • part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
    • a translation
    • a supplementary work – adjunct to a work made by another author
    • a compilation
    • an instructional text – systematic instructional activities
    • a test
    • answer material for a test
    • an atlas
  • 2. intent: if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire

must fit into one of the 8 categories to be a contracted work made for hire (p132)

Most work produced for HITs would not seem to fall into either of these categories.