New York Laws
Article 6 - Payment of Wages
191-A - Definitions.

(a) "Commission" means compensation accruing to a sales representative
for payment by a principal, the rate of which is expressed as a
percentage of the dollar amount of wholesale orders or sales.
(b) "Earned commission" means a commission due for services or
merchandise which is due according to the terms of an applicable
contract or, when there is no applicable contractual provision, a
commission due for merchandise which has actually been delivered to,
accepted by, and paid for by the customer, notwithstanding that the
sales representative's services may have terminated.
(c) "Principal" means a person or company engaged in the business of
manufacturing, and who:
(1) Manufactures, produces, imports, or distributes a product for
wholesale;
(2) Contracts with a sales representative to solicit orders for the
product; and
(3) Compensates the sales representative in whole or in part by
commissions.
(d) "Sales representative" means a person or entity who solicits
orders in New York state and is not covered by subdivision six of
section one hundred ninety and paragraph (c) of subdivision one of
section one hundred ninety-one of this article because he or she is an
independent contractor, but does not include one who places orders for
his own account for resale.