INTERNET RAISES STICKY QUESTIONS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF IP IN ACADEMIA
Debates over the ownership of intellectual property are mounting
as the Internet creates opportunities to capitalize on writings,
lecture notes, and inventions developed by university faculty
members.  One especially controversial issue relating to
intellectual property is the online sale of professors' class
notes.  Professors can obtain copyright protection by scripting
their lectures, and students can take notes without violating the
copyright because of fair use laws, says Roberta Rosenthal Kwall,
DePaul University College of Law professor of intellectual
property.  However, copyright issues arise if the notes are sold,
Kwall says.  The sale of class notes is part of the larger issue
of whether professors or universities own the materials created by
professors.  Universities have traditionally given faculty members
the intellectual property rights to their own work, but with the
possibility of profiting from creations such as computer
inventions, schools are now more likely to claim property rights,
says New York University law professor Rochelle Dreyfuss. Federal
copyright law says academic institutions own the copyrights on
their professors' lectures, but the ownership of articles and
books is more complicated, says Lewis and Clark College of Law
professor Lydia Loren.  Copyright law is rooted in the idea that
employers have the right to control an employee's work--a notion
that is contrary to the concept of academic freedom, Loren says.
The American Association of University Professors has formed a
special group to review intellectual property issues such as the
sale of class notes and create policy proposals.  (IP Law Weekly
Online, 28 Jan 2000)

From Edupage.