What are the current legal standards under US copyright law regarding unfinished freelance source code if a client terminates a contract today
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Fan-out diagram
The searches the AI actually ran for this prompt.
SEED QUERY
What are the current legal standards under US copyright law regarding unfinished freelance source code if a client terminates a contract today
3 real searches · 1 real-search pass
2026 US Copyright Act 17 USC 101 201 204 work made for hire independent contractor software source code termination contract copyright ownershipGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDReason
US Copyright Office circular works made for hire commissioned software computer programs categories signed agreementGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDOther / navigational
US Supreme Court Community for Creative Non-Violence Reid work made for hire independent contractor factors copyrightGoogle ↗
OBSERVEDYes / no
Badge and edge weight = share of passes that produced the query. Hover a query for its intent and routing format.
Query classes
Google's semantic query class for every sub-query: what kind of answer each search is after, simulated vs real.
ChatGPT real searches (3)
Classes come from the query-classifier (a local Laya model). 3 of 3 calls are low-confidence (under 50%) — hover a query in the table to see its confidence.
Searches and sources
ChatGPT3 real searches · gpt-6
2026 US Copyright Act 17 USC 101 201 204 work made for hire independent contractor software source code termination contract copyright ownership Google ↗
US Copyright Office circular works made for hire commissioned software computer programs categories signed agreement Google ↗
US Supreme Court Community for Creative Non-Violence Reid work made for hire independent contractor factors copyright Google ↗
- 17 U.S.C. § 101: Definitions · uscode.house.gov
- COMMUNITY FOR CREATIVE NON-VIOLENCE, et al., Petitioners, v. James Earl REID. | Supreme Court | US Law · law.cornell.edu
- Circular 30 Works Made For Hire · copyright.gov
- What is Copyright? · copyright.gov
- usc-cdn.house.gov · usc-cdn.house.gov
- 17 U.S.C. § 201: Ownership of copyright · uscode.house.gov
- 17 U.S.C. § 204: Execution of transfers of copyright ownership · uscode.house.gov
- Circular 30 – Works Made for Hire · copyright.gov
- Title 17 – United States Copyright Act · uscode.house.gov
- US Copyright Office – What Is Copyright? · copyright.gov
Queries
3 queries · click a column to sort
| Query / type | Search | Intent | Query class | Routing format | Cluster | Freq ↓ | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 US Copyright Act 17 USC 101 201 204 work made for hire independent contractor software source code termination contract copyright ownership OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Reason | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
US Copyright Office circular works made for hire commissioned software computer programs categories signed agreement OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Other / navigational | — | — | 1x of 1 | |
US Supreme Court Community for Creative Non-Violence Reid work made for hire independent contractor factors copyright OBSERVED | Google ↗ AI Mode ↗ | — | Yes / no | — | — | 1x of 1 |