Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois
Intellectual Property Rights
I developed a Bachelor of Science degree program for the college where I had worked for 20 years. I was not paid any additional compensation for writing this program. I was teaching a full-load of academic courses at the time I was writing the program. I did so with the promise that I would teach the new courses I was writing. The college breached a contract, and I am now teaching elsewhere. Since there was no contract, nor additional pay for me to write this program, I have a copyright for my work. However, the college is still using it. Do I have any legal recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Intellectual Property Rights
The question here is what your employment contract stated. Since you were an employee of the school, courts usually consider this as a work-for-hire. As such, the rights therein generated belong to the employer. Absent agreement to anything else via your employment agreement, they, the school own the rights to the work.
Good Luck!
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