Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid
Argued March 29, 1989
Decided June 5, 1989
Full case nameCommunity for Creative Non-Violence, et al. v. James Earl Reid
Citations490 U.S. 730 (more)
109 S. Ct. 2166; 104 L. Ed. 2d 811; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 2727; 57 U.S.L.W. 4607; 10 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1985; Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) ¶ 26,425; 16 Media L. Rep. 1769
Case history
PriorCertiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Holding
The default rule is that the artist who creates a commissioned work retains copyright ownership of the work (because the artist is an independent contractor and not an employee producing a work made for hire). However, this is only a presumption which can be modified by contract.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinion
MajorityMarshall, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
17 U.S.C. § 201; 17 U.S.C. § 101

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989), is a US copyright law and labor law case of a United States Supreme Court case regarding ownership of copyright.