---
title: "Build an open-source and contractor-IP issues table for a technology deal"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts/build-an-open-source-and-contractor-ip-issues-table-for-a-technology-dea/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A24-T1-R5-US"
practice_area: "Technology, Media & Telecommunications / IT Contracts"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Build an open-source and contractor-IP issues table for a technology deal

> From the contractor agreements and the licence notices in the file, list each component, the licence name printed on it, who the contract says owns the work, and whether a signed writing calls the work a work made for…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts/build-an-open-source-and-contractor-ip-issues-table-for-a-technology-dea/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Technology, Media & Telecommunications / IT Contracts](https://ailawframework.com/practice/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | From the contractor agreements and the licence notices in the file, list each component, the licence name printed on it, who the contract says owns the work, and whether a signed writing calls the work a work made for hire. Do not conclude that title has passed. |
| What the lawyer must review | 17 U.S.C. § 201(a) vests copyright initially in the author. Section 201(b) treats the employer, or the person for whom a work made for hire was prepared, as the author unless a signed writing says otherwise. Section 101 requires, for a commissioned work, both a listed category and a written instrument signed by the parties. The commissioned categories that were read are a contribution to a collective work, part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation, an instructional text, a test, answer material for a test, or an atlas. A contractor’s ordinary software often falls outside that list, so a “work made for hire” label does not by itself move copyright. Formal Opinion 512: the lawyer checks the table before it is used in negotiation. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Build an open-source and contractor-IP issues table for a technology deal](https://ailawframework.com/practice/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts/build-an-open-source-and-contractor-ip-issues-table-for-a-technology-dea.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: From the contractor agreements and the licence notices in the file, list each component, the licence name printed on it, who the contract says owns the work, and whether a signed writing calls the work a work made for hire. Do not conclude that title has passed.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Open-source licence texts were not opened. The table records the licence name printed in the file and does not interpret that licence.
- An assignment needs its own signed writing. This version does not quote an assignment statute.

## Sources

- [17 U.S.C. § 101, Definitions, including work made for hire](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [17 U.S.C. § 201, Ownership of copyright](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/201) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (29 July 2024)](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Deed of assignment of intellectual property and moral rights consent (contractor or developer software)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts/ip-assignment-and-moral-rights-consent-deed.md) | Deed | Yellow | A deed by which a contractor, freelance developer or former founder assigns copyright and other IP in software and related material to a company, with a moral rights consent, further assurance, a… |
| [Open source licence compliance review checklist (technology transactions and product releases)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/technology-media-and-telecommunications-it-contracts/open-source-licence-compliance-review-checklist.md) | Checklist | Yellow | A checklist for reviewing open source use in a codebase for a sale, investment, licence-out or product release: inventory, licence classification, distribution and network-use triggers, notice and… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*