Work for Hire

In the days when three broadcast networks ruled the U.S. television market, the financial model for programming was this: networks licensed programs from independent production companies for an amount that generally allowed the networks two plays per season per show. The license fee generally did not cover the production company's costs. Instead, the company retained the rights to syndicate, or sell the program, to other entities -- the network affiliates and independent stations that actually played the network's programs and foreign broadcasters. They could make enough money from selling the syndication rights to a network hit that production companies could afford to deficit spend on network series.

Those were the days -- the days of lavish executive dining rooms and corporate art collections in the New York skyscrapers that headquartered the Big Three networks. Some production companies still have this kind of agreement with networks -- it depends upon their leverage (see previous post). However, networks like Discovery, which already have channels around the world, see the advantage of owning the content they show. Therefore they are purchasing all the rights to shows outright -- paying production companies to produce work for hire.

In a work for hire situation, you create a program for a fee and the network or film company owns all the rights. If you are running a production company, it may be a good deal for you to accept steady work at a rate that covers your costs, plus a profit in exchange for all rights to your work. That's particularly true if the network brings the idea to you first.

However, if you have an idea that you have nurtured from conception and want to retain creative control, then you should not agree to create the show as work for hire. You will want control over rights, and a say in how the production looks. Of course, this might mean that the network will pass on your idea. You have to be prepared for that to happen if you want to retain control. If your idea and its execution are strong enough to attract an audience, you will find a network that will agree to your terms.

Make sure you know before you sign a contract whether your program will be work for hire or whether you will retain rights. Make sure the rights are spelled out clearly in the contract -- don't rely on any verbal assurances. As Samuel Goldwyn famously said, "a verbal contract is not worth the paper it's written on."

There's nothing wrong with doing work for hire. Just be sure you know what you're agreeing to do before you sign anything.