Who owns the copyright of a work?

Copyright ownership vests in author of the work. In the case of joint authors, they are joint owners. Work made for hire is generally owned by the employer.(Work made for hire is defined as that which is prepared by an employee, work specially commissioned, or parties agree in writing it is a work made for hire).

Ownership of a copy of the work does not confer on the owner of the copy the same rights the owner of the copyright has. For example, ownership of a video tape of a movie permits you to view the movie at home but does not give you the right to make copies or to show the movie to others for a fee.