Posted: 4/2/2012 8:16:49 AM EDT
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So, I am a teacher, and over the years I have developed a lot of "curriculum materials."
This includes class notes, various laboratory investigative exercises, worksheets, review materials tests etc. Who does this stuff belong to? Me or the school I was working for when I developed it? A couple of points.. most teachers don't have anywhere NEAR the amount of original stuff I do. In todays education world most teachers just download activities, even class notes (mostly power-points) of the net. I am not about to leave my job, so this is just hypothetical. If I was I would take it all anyway and delete my hard drive. This is not mentioned in my contract. |
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The way I understand it, from an industry/manufacturing perspective, if you develop anything related to your employers business, it belongs to them. This includes developing something in your garage at home that relates to your employers business. How that works in academia, I have no idea. |
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Quoted:
The way I understand it, from an industry/manufacturing perspective, if you develop anything related to your employers business, it belongs to them. This includes developing something in your garage at home that relates to your employers business. How that works in academia, I have no idea. Isn't that because those industries typically have that written into their contracts? I'd love to see cases on this that didn't have those clauses in the employee contract. |
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Quoted: Quoted: The way I understand it, from an industry/manufacturing perspective, if you develop anything related to your employers business, it belongs to them. This includes developing something in your garage at home that relates to your employers business. How that works in academia, I have no idea. Isn't that because those industries typically have that written into their contracts? I'd love to see cases on this that didn't have those clauses in the employee contract. The 3M Sticky Note is the classic case. An engineer developed a glue there seemed to be no market for. He later found a market. The glue and the marketing idea belonged to 3M. |
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Quoted:
The 3M Sticky Note is the classic case. An engineer developed a glue there seemed to be no market for. He later found a market. The glue and the marketing idea belonged to 3M. Which has absolutely nothing to do with Currahee's situation. 3M has assignation clauses in all employment contracts, and the researcher developed the glue as part of his work with 3M. Moreover, the IP in question at 3M was patentable subject matter, not copyrightable materials like Currahee's, which have a rather different set of rules. Quoted:
If they paid you to do it, it's theirs. I am not a lawyer and I don't even have an internet GED in law. Well, your answer is completely incorrect, and you should sue yourself for failing to give yourself an education in copyright law. 
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Quoted:
Who does this stuff belong to? Me or the school I was working for when I developed it? This is not mentioned in my contract. On these limited facts, the materials appear to belong to you, as they do not appear to be "work for hire". I'd suggest asking on the http://www.iptalk.pro/ forum. Disclaimer: these off-the-cuff remarks should not be construed as "legal advice", which involves detailed factual investigation that is not possible in this situation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed. I recommend that you seek legal advice upon which you can rely, from an attorney licensed in your state. |
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Quoted:
The way I understand it, from an industry/manufacturing perspective, if you develop anything related to your employers business, it belongs to them. This includes developing something in your garage at home that relates to your employers business. How that works in academia, I have no idea. Not exactly. IP ownership has to do with whether the work was commissioned or not. In this case, the teacher was hired to teach, which includes creating course materials and related material for the classes. In my experience with IP, this means that the rights to the material technically belongs to the school district because they paid the teacher to create it. Do they care about it? Probably not, although they might start caring if they smelled a few dollars in it. If there is a teachers' union contract, the issue is almost certainly covered in the contract. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Who does this stuff belong to? Me or the school I was working for when I developed it? This is not mentioned in my contract. On these limited facts, the materials appear to belong to you, as they do not appear to be "work for hire". I'd suggest asking on the http://www.iptalk.pro/ forum. Disclaimer: these off-the-cuff remarks should not be construed as "legal advice", which involves detailed factual investigation that is not possible in this situation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed. I recommend that you seek legal advice upon which you can rely, from an attorney licensed in your state. I like this answer most. |