Re: Re: "University as author?"

On Aug 15, 2005, at 6:10 PM, Albert Henderson wrote:

> This issue is about good business practice more
> than powers available to university bureaucrats.
>
> Try to imagine the president of Cal Tech telling
> Linus Pauling he must give up his copyrights
> because his writing is within the scope of his
> employment or done on company time.

This distinction should be kept clearly in mind in this sort of discussion -- what the law requires or allows is not necessarily good policy or practice. One should clearly state whether one is talking about legal requirements or what in a particular setting makes sense.

I have no trouble imagining the President of Cal Tech telling Linus Pauling or anyone else that he is an employee hired to do certain things and that his work product belongs to the employer -- as a legal matter.

As a matter of practice and tradition and sense, in the area of copyright, it is indeed hard to imagine that such a president would be president for very long.

Steve

-- 
Prof. Steven D. Jamar                                 vox:  202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law                       fax:  202-806-8428
2900 Van Ness Street NW                         
mailto:sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu
Washington, DC  20008      http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be  
changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and  
the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

Reinhold Neibuhr 1943