Martha Graham Was a Work-For-Hire Author of Dance Choreographer

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the work-for-hire doctrine applied to determine the ownership of copyrights in dances choreographed by the late Martha Graham, the founder of modern dance. Martha Graham School and Dance Foundation, Inc., et al. v. Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., et al., Case No. 02-9451, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 17452 (2d Cir. Aug. 18, 2004).

Several years after Martha Graham’s death, her sole beneficiary and The Martha Graham School and Dance Foundation, Inc. sought a judgment from the district court declaring, among other things, that the plaintiffs owned the copyrights in 70 dances choreographed by Ms. Graham. The defendants Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. (the center) and Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Inc. (the school) also asserted ownership of the disputed copyrights. The district court concluded that the defendants were entitled to a declaration of ownership of the copyrights for the