Work for hire is the US copyright-law concept under which an employer (not the creator) is treated as the original author and copyright owner. Sometimes written "work made for hire," it applies under federal law in only two specific circumstances: (1) the work was created by an employee within the scope of their employment, or (2) the work was specifically commissioned for one of nine enumerated categories AND the parties signed a written agreement before the work was created stating it would be a work for hire. It is the legal mechanism that ensures the company (not the individual creator) owns IP created by employees, and the most-commonly-misunderstood concept in startup contractor relationships.
The two qualifying paths: (...