Copyright or Copy Wrong: An Analysis of University Claims to Faculty Work

Most universities claim to own at least some faculty-created works. An examination of copyright cases touching on faculty ownership of their intellectual property, of the teacher exception to the work-for-hire doctrine and its relationship to academic freedom, and of university copyright policies demonstrates that faculty have little protection for their intellectual property. Indeed, the greatest protection for faculty who stake claims on their work may be university copyright policies that do not alter the traditional work-for-hire arrangement set up by the Copyright Act.