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WHEN PROFESSORS CREATE SOFTWARE, DO THEY OWN IT, OR DO THEIR
COLLEGES?
As professors in a wide range of fields increasingly write
commercially viable software, the issue of whether the programs
belong to professors or to their colleges is heating up. If
software is viewed as traditional scholarly publishing, then
professors own the work. However, the university has ownership
claims if the program is seen as an invention, or a work for
hire. Copyright laws hold that an employer owns a creative work
that falls within the bounds of the worker's employment--for
example, a program that helps a professor grade papers, legal
experts say. In addition, universities could claim ownership if
a professor creates the software as an assigned project or uses
university resources, including grants awarded by the school.
While colleges nearly always claim ownership over patented
software, most software is not patented, because products have to
be innovative and not obvious to receive patents, says patent and
copyright attorney Ray K. Harris. However, software is protected
by copyrights, and scholars have traditionally held copyrights to
their academic works. Despite this precedent, universities are
increasingly writing policies that give them ownership of
professors' software, as the potential to capitalize on these
programs grows, Harris says. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 July 2000)
Contact F. David Peat
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