Professional Documents
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Here's Your I.P. Tip of the Week, brought to you by your friendly Intellectual
Property campus coordinator.
The sixth Tip of the Week related to Intellectual Property (I.P.) deals with the
concept of ownership of I.P. works that are created by students.
The student prepares the slideshow using the notes as a guide but includes
some original text and digital graphics. When Ms. Baker receives the
PowerPoint file, she is surprised to see both names (faculty and student) on a
copyright notice on the first title slide. Ms. Baker doesn’t believe that the
student is entitled to be included on the copyright notice since the faculty
member is making the presentation and the presentation is based on the
faculty member’s notes.
Question: Does the student have a valid claim to copyright for the
PowerPoint slideshow?
O’Brien is not concerned about intellectual property issues since the student
created the work in completion of a course requirement. O’Brien believes
that he has the right to use the video without the student’s permission.
Let’s change the facts about the video creation. Assume that the student was
hired into a work/study position and was paid to do various projects for the
faculty member, including the creation of the learning video. Although it
would still be a good idea to have a written agreement related to the
ownership of the works, this would most likely be viewed as a “work for
hire” in which the college (the employer) owns the intellectual property.
The Tip of the Week is adapted from the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities "Understanding Intellectual Property: A Guide to Board Policy
3.26."