photographer is denied authorship and is treated as a tool of theclient.  Work for hire exist automatically in the case of an employee takingphotographs for the employer.  As provided in the copyright law, noagreements are required.  An independent contractor ("freelancer") can do a work for hire only incertain circumstances.  First, the work must be commissioned-that isspecifically ordered by someone, and if it is commissioned, it can be awork for hire only if the photograph comes within one of the ninespecific categories enumerated in the copyright act as qualifying for awork for hire:  Contribution to a collective work Contribution to a motion picture oraudio-visual work Translation Supplementary work CompilationInstructional text Test Answer material for a test Atlas  The category most frequently involving photographers is a contributionto a collective work such as a magazine or other periodical.  WORK FOR HIRE AND COPYRIGHT TRANSFER DIFFERENCES  Although many see work for hire and copyright transfer as the samething, they are not.  Under the law, if you transfer the copyright you can get it back afterthirty five years.  This "recapture" provision of the law was designedto allow photographers the eventual control over their body of work.Also, when negotiating a copyright transfer you have the ownership andcan bargain for the price of the copyright.  In a work for hire situation you never have the copyright.  You have norecapture right at any time.  You are simply selling your services for afee.  That fee should reflect the present and the future value of thecopyright.  If you signed a work for hire and later want the copyrightto the work, the only way you can get it is to negotiate with thecopyright owner to transfer it to you.  Finally, a work for hire will apply to all photographs taken on theassignment, not just to those used by the client.  A transfer ofcopyright can be customized and apply to all the photographs or someportion thereof, such as only those used by the client.  FAIR USE  The copyright law allows someone to copy your work without penalty incertain cases.  This is called "fair use". In order to qualify for "fairuse" the photograph would usually have to be copied for educational,classroom, news reporting or other educational or public interestpurposes.  Fair use is always subject to interpretation.  There is nosimple rule to apply to determine when an unauthorized use is "fairuse".  Each case has specific facts that must be examined before such adetermination can be made.  This is one reason why it is important toconsult with a knowledgeable copyright attorney before jumping toconclusions about infringement.  COPYRIGHT AND COLLECTIONS  In recent years the trend has been to invoice the client with termsstating that the grant of rights to use the photograph is not in forceuntil the invoice is paid in full.  It should be understood that underthis provision nonpayment may be both a breach of the client'scontractual obligation and infringement of the copyright.  This cancreate a legal question about the best way to enforce your rights - aquestion best answered by competent legal counsel.  BUYOUTS AND ALL RIGHTS  "Buyout" and "all rights" are confusing terms and are thought by some tomean a transfer of copyright However, these terms have inconsistenttrade definitions, depending upon personal understanding, andconsequently are not reliable in licensing terminology.  We urge you not to use such terms In licensing clients the rights toyour photographs.  It is better to clearly state whether or not thecopyright is being transferred.  An all rights agreement without a transfer of copyright is a permissionto a client to use your image as desired, while the copyright remainswith you.  This gives the client the widest range of rights for the timeallowed in the license without a transfer of copyright ownership.  DEFINITIONS FROM THE COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976  "Audio visual works" are works that consist of a series of relatedimages which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use ofmachines or devices such as projectors, viewers, or electronicequipment, together with accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of thenature of the material objects, such as films or tapes, in which theworks are embodied.  A "collective work" is a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology, orencyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separateand independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collectivewhole.  A contribution to a collective work can itself be copyrightable.  A "compilation" is a work formed by the collection and assembling ofpreexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, orarranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes anoriginal work of authorship.  The term "compilation " includescollective works.  A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting works,such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization,fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, artreproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which theunderlying work may be recast, transformed or adapted.  A workconsisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or othermodifications which, as a whole, represent an original work ofauthorship, is a "derivative work."  A "joint work" is a work prepared by two or more authors with theintention that their contributions be merged into inseparable orinterdependent parts of a unitary whole.  Each joint copyright owner cangrant non-exclusive licenses to third parties subject to a duty toaccount to the other joint owners for their share and profits.  "Motion pictures" are audiovisual works consisting of a series ofrelated images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression ofmotion, together with ac-companying sounds, if any.  A "transfer of copyright ownership" is an assignment, mortgage,exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation or hypothecationof a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in acopyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place of effect, butnot including a non-exclusive license.  FOR INFORMATION ON REGISTERING YOUR COPYRIGHT  Registration is handled through the Register of Copyrights, Library ofCongress, Washington, DC 20559.  Telephone: (202)479-0700.  A 24-hour"hotline" for obtaining registration forms is (202)707-9100.  Photographers are normally registered in class VA (Visual Arts), exceptfor bulk registration and some contributions to periodicals.  Theprocedure for filing is quite simple.  The form is self-explanatory; itis filled out and sent to Washington with two copies of the photograph(except for an unpublished registration, when only one is required)along with a $20 filing fee.  For registration purposes, everyphotograph should have a title, which can be a simple descriptivecaption.  Form VA is the basic form for registering all works in the visual arts.In addition to photographs as such, it should also be used forregistering the following items when they are primarily or exclusivelyphotographic in nature: books, advertising materials, and most singlecontributions to periodicals.  When these items consist primarily oftext, they should be registered in class TX.  If first publication occurs in a separately copyrighted work, such as amagazine, you can still register the copyright in class VA as acontribution to a collective work, thus securing the advantages ofstatutory damages and legal fees in an infringement case as mentionedabove.  This procedure is safer than relying upon the registration ofthe collective work itself.  PROPER FORMAT FOR DISPLAY OF COPYRIGHT NOTICE  There are three ways to display a copyright notice:  (C) 1991, (Creator's Name)  Copyright 1991, (Creator's Name)  Copr. 1991, (Creator's Name)  Although all three are acceptable it is generally thought that (C) 1991,(Creator's Name) is the most widely recognized in the internationalcommunity.  NOTICE  The Copyright Act is an everchanging document.  Every effort has beenmade to make this paper as up to date as possible.  This document is notintended to be legal reference material.