Works Made For Hire—When Should You Document an Agreement Covering Works Made for Hire?

Specially ordered or commissioned works require a "written instrument signed by them” to be considered a work made for hire. Courts currently disagree as to whether the agreement must exist before a work’s creation or may be executed afterwards. In this post, we explore the disagreement among the courts, as well as the impact of the August 2022 decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in Cortés-Ramos v. Martin-Morales.