{"id":30440,"date":"2026-04-10T03:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=30440"},"modified":"2026-04-09T07:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:19:28","slug":"who-owns-the-copyright-what-happens-when-you-collaborate-or-hire-out-by-kelley-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/10\/who-owns-the-copyright-what-happens-when-you-collaborate-or-hire-out-by-kelley-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Owns the Copyright? What Happens When You Collaborate or Hire Out by Kelley Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30441 size-full\" title=\"Who Owns the Copyright? What Happens When You Collaborate or Hire Out by Kelley Way\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Who-Owns-the-Copyright-What-Happens-When-You-Collaborate-or-Hire-Out.png\" alt=\"Who Owns the Copyright? What Happens When You Collaborate or Hire Out by Kelley Way\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Who-Owns-the-Copyright-What-Happens-When-You-Collaborate-or-Hire-Out.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Who-Owns-the-Copyright-What-Happens-When-You-Collaborate-or-Hire-Out-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?s=Kelley+Way\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kelley Way<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cWho Owns the Copyright? What Happens When You Collaborate or Hire Out\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Copyright Ownership When You Work Alone<\/h2>\n<p>Copyright ownership is easy when you work alone:<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019re the sole author<\/strong>, so you have 100% ownership of everything you create.<\/p>\n<p>But what if you decide to collaborate with someone?<\/p>\n<p>What if you hire a ghostwriter?<\/p>\n<p><strong>What if you contribute to a collection of works?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Who owns the copyright then?<\/p>\n<h2>Co-Authoring and Joint Ownership<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s examine each of these scenarios to find out who owns the copyright:<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you want to create something with someone<\/strong> (e.g., co-author a book), you are considered joint owners.<\/p>\n<p>Both of you share copyright ownership equally.<\/p>\n<p>If there are more than two authors, everyone still has an equal share.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But an interesting point about co-ownership:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You only need your co-author\u2019s permission to grant an exclusive license to your work.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to give a nonexclusive license (i.e., multiple people can have rights to the work), the permission of all authors is not required.<\/p>\n<p>That said, you still must account to your co-authors for any money made from these nonexclusive licenses, and you should really think about how this will impact your relationship before you move on this.<\/p>\n<h2>Hiring Someone to Create Work (Work for Hire)<\/h2>\n<p>Hiring someone to make something for you is a different story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This would fall under the \u201cwork for hire\u201d doctrine<\/strong>, which states that the copyright belongs to the person who commissioned the work, not to the employee who actually performed it.<\/p>\n<p>But if the person is not a literal employee, then there is a question of whether the work-for-hire doctrine applies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To be safe<\/strong>, you should always have a written agreement stating who is the author and who owns the copyright (you\u2019d think those are the same thing, but they\u2019re actually not.)<\/p>\n<h2>Contributing to a Compilation<\/h2>\n<p>Contributing to a compilation (e.g., a collection of essays or short stories being published together) raises some questions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Generally, you own the copyright to your contribution<\/strong>, and you\u2019re granting a license to the editor or publisher, but there are some scenarios where this is considered work for hire.<\/p>\n<p>When in doubt, look at the contract. (Hint: if you don\u2019t see a formal contract, look at the terms for submission.)<\/p>\n<h2>Questions About Copyright Ownership<\/h2>\n<p>If you have questions about who owns the copyright after a collaboration, hire situation, or another scenario not mentioned here, feel free to contact me at <a href=\"mailto:kaway@kawaylaw.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">kaway@kawaylaw.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to read more articles like this one Writer\u2019s Fun Zone? <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/contact-beth\/#signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subscribe here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n<p><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/07\/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-the-california-consumer-privacy-act-ccpa-by-kelley-way\/kawaylaw.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"kawaylaw.com noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-19891 tc-smart-load-skip tc-smart-loaded\" title=\"Kelley Way\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/way18CRWEB-240x300.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/way18CRWEB-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/way18CRWEB-640x800.jpg 640w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/way18CRWEB.jpg 700w\" alt=\"Kelley Way\" width=\"150\" height=\"188\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar, and an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. More information at <a href=\"http:\/\/kawaylaw.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">kawaylaw.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who Owns the Copyright? What Happens When You Collaborate or Hire Out explains who owns copyright in collaborations and hired work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":30441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[5751,5624,7678,7676,447,7679,4615,7674,7677,934,7315,6471,6467,7675,3773],"class_list":["post-30440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing-tips","tag-co-author","tag-collaborate","tag-collection","tag-compilation","tag-copyright","tag-doctrine","tag-ghostwriter","tag-hire-out","tag-joint-owners","tag-kelley-way","tag-licenses","tag-ownership","tag-permission","tag-sole-author","tag-written-agreement"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who Owns the Copyright? 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