Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Wisconsin

Re: Teaching and Intellectual property

I think under current federal copyright law you are correct.

You can find some information about copyright at http://www.netatty.com/articles.html

Timothy J. Walton

Internet Attorney

1896 San Ramon Avenue

Re: Teaching and Intellectual property

Here's a Web Page that has some information on copyright ownership by instructors, including links to policies of numerous universities and some discussions on the subject.

http://www.library.yale.edu/~okerson/copyproj.html

Gerry Elman

Elman & Associates

20 West Third Street

Re: Teaching and Intellectual property

To answer this kind of question, you must determine whether you are an employee or a contractor.

If you are an employee, then any copyrightable materials authored by you, in the scope of your employment, belong to the school UNLESS there is a writing that specifically says that the work(s) belong to you.

If you are a contractor, then any copyrightable materials authored by you, in the scope of your employment or otherwise, belong to you UNLESS there is a writing that specifically says that the work(s) belong to the school.

For the purposes of determining whether you are a contractor or an employee, you can look to the determinating factors set out by the IRS. The IRS has found some people to be employees who have job titles that say "Contractor", and some employees to be contractors. It is NOT a matter of what you call yourself.

The other phrase that can be a major point of misunderstanding is "within the scope of employment". Many people assume that if they do the work at home, it is theirs to keep. This is not a good test for ownership. A professor who writes a textbook at home may be surprised to find that the copyright belongs to the school and not to him, depending on what the textbook teaches, and what his job is.

Thomas Workman

Law Offices of Thomas Workman

41 Harrison Street, Taunton, MA