Work-for-Hire Issue in Litigation Over 'Goosebumps' Musical

A current work-for-hire dispute over rights to the musical adaptation, cast album compositions and sheet music based on the children’s horror novel Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium explores the inter-relationship of work-for-hire and copyright-ownership language in agreements signed both before and after the Goosebumps play was created.

6 minute read May 31, 2026 at 11:11 PM

Stan Soocher

The Copyright Act defines a work made for hire as one “prepared by an employee, within the scope of his or her employment” or “specially ordered or commissioned for use … if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire,” 17 U.S.C. §101.

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