Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Copyright of Intellectual Property

There are a number of issues here:

First, there is the issue of ownership of the copyright. Was there any personnel handbooks, web site language, memos or other printed materials, even if you didn't sign these, that said that any work done for the use of the college was the property of the college, that might suggest that the college owns the copyright in the curriculum? The fact that you weren't paid to prepare your curriculum suggests that you own the copyright in it but that may not be sufficient as the courts look at a variety of factors to determine copyright ownership. These include: (1) Control by the employer over the work (e.g., the employer may determine how the work is done, has the work done at the employer's location, and provides equipment or other means to create work) (2) Control by employer over the employee (e.g., the employer controls the employee's schedule in creating work, has the right to have the employee perform other assignments, determines the method of payment, and/or has the right to hire the employee's assistants) (3) Status and conduct of employer (e.g., the employer is in business to produce such works, provides the employee with benefits, and/or withholds tax from the employee's payment). All of these factors would have to be considered to confirm that you, indeed, have the copyright in the curriculum. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ09.pdf

Second, even if you do own the copyright in the curriculum, while under U.S. law, copyright protection exists in a work from the time that the work is created in fixed form and the copyright in that work becomes the property of the author who created the work, copyright registration is required before an infringement suit may be filed in court.

Finally, a copyright subsists in the particular form of a work, not the idea itself, so your copyright, if you have one in your curriculum, would be in the particular written work that you prepared and not the concept or idea of the curriculum

THE ABOVE ADVICE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY MATERIAL PRESENTED HEREIN, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU CONSULT AN ATTORNEY. THIS INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED BY AN ATTORNEY IN ACTIVE PRACTICE IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS AND CURRENTLY HOLDS AN ACTIVE LAW LICENSE IN THAT STATE ONLY.

Re: Copyright of Intellectual Property

Without knowing all the facts, it sounds like the work you created for the college may have been a "work for hire." Meaning, as an employee of the college, all of the copyrights in and to the work that you made within the scope of your employment automatically become their property. No contract need be executed and no additional compensation need be given in order for this to happen. Unless somehow you were an independent contractor or some other exception, your former employer may be the owner. To discuss this matter further, please contact me.