any tangible artwork, such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, or written works, a person is entitled to exclusive copyright ownership if they created the work as an independent contractor. If the person created such works while in the employ of another person or corporation, the rights belong to the employer (under most standard employment contracts). Firms in the sharing economy such as Uber can gain substantial advantages via the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. Disadvantages In the United States, an Internal Revenue Service computer algorithm matches individuals with Form 1099s to the company that pays them. If an independent contractor reports more than $10,000 of earnings, or majority of income from a single source, the IRS is likely to question the independence of the worker, and investigate the company that issued the Form 1099. Employer misclassification of employees as independent contractors either inadvertently or to avoid taxation and regulation, is widespread. Additionally, contractorization has been used as an indirect form of union-busting. An independent contractor can itself be a business with employees; however, in most cases in the United States independent contractors operate as a sole proprietorship or single-member limited liability company. This means the independent contractor, as a business owner, incurs its own expenses to provide the contracted service, must acquire its own equipment to perform the service, and is responsible for business filings such as income tax returns. Independent contractors are responsible for their own self-employment tax, which consists of both halves of the FICA tax amount. An employee only pays the employee portion of the FICA tax. Self-employment taxes are not withheld from the earnings of independent contractors who are required to voluntarily declare and pay estimated earnings taxes to the IRS, which can lead to a trap for contractors who run into financial difficulty and become tempted to put off making the required estimated tax payments. There are several monetary incentives that are guaranteed to employees in the United States, but not independent contractors. Examples include worker's compensation and unemployment insurance; but independent contractors are allowed to make Individual Retirement Account contributions. In many jurisdictions, occupational safety and health regulations are less comprehensive for independent contractors. Independent contracting in tort The employer of an independent contractor is generally not held vicariously liable for the tortious acts and omissions of the contractor, because the control and supervision found in an employer–employee or principal–agent relationship is lacking. However,