Chapter LXVI: Section II: The Employer

Probably in the case of a paid servant who does literary or artistic work for his master in the course of his employment, the master is the proprietor of the work even in its embryo state, and no conveyance, transfer, or consent by or on behalf of the servant is necessary to entitle the master to enter the copyright in his own name as proprietor. In such a case he does not require to show that he is the "author" of the work; he is a proprietor, and is entitled to the copyright as such.[1459]

In the case of work done on commission the relationship of the parties is somewhat different. The author is not a servant but an independent contractor, and therefore his work does not _ab initio_ vest in his employer. There is a strong presumption in the case of a commission to execute work not in existence at the time, that the work when executed is to belong unreservedly to the person giving the order.[1460] The question depends, however, entirely on what the actual agreement between the parties was.[1461] An author, although he does work on commission, may well reserve the copyright to himself, giving to his employer a licence for a particular purpose only.[1462] If it has been agreed expressly or impliedly that the employer is to become owner of the copyright, then the delivery of the manuscript or other work in fulfilment of the contract will pass the author's literary or artistic common law right to the employer, and the latter may take the copyright in his own name as proprietor.[1463] If the term of the contract were that the author should retain the copyright, copyright must be entered in the author's name.