In the Republic of Croatia, employment relationships are mostly based on the conclusion of an employment contract, which is normatively regulated by the Labor Law as a lex generalis. However, an employment contract is not the only way to establish a relationship that is quite similar to an employment relationship. To establish such a similar relationship in practice, work contracts and copyright contracts are used very often, which, anyway, are governed by other sources of law. The subject of this paper is precisely the work contract, which is a civil law contract regulated by the Obligatory Relations Act. The aim of the paper is to show some of the essential similarities and differences between work contracts, employment contracts and copyright contracts. The first part of the work will analyze the basic characteristics of the work contract, the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, liability for defects and the way to terminate the contract. Further, in the ending part of the work, the basic characteristics of the work contract will be compared with some basic features of the work contract and the copyright contract, nevertheless it would be shawn why it is of huge importance to distinguishing these three contracts.