Re: L.Rev (C) Release

On Wed, 3 Nov 1999, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> I don't see faculty writing as work for hire unless the writing is
> specifically commissioned. As I understand it, universities do not
> control their faculty members; research, writing, or related decisions.
> Faculty are not agents of the universities. They take their names and
> their copyrights with them when they go. Outside sponsors of research,
> accounting for 80% of academic research spending, also leave the writing
> and submission decisions to researchers' sense of the best opportunities
> for dissemination.
>

Yes, but unfortunately we are pretty clearly employees acting in the scope of our employment. That is enough to trigger work-for-hire status under the 1976 Act, unless the non-statutory "teacher exception" is thought to apply.

Mark Lemley
<mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> Received on Thu Nov 04 1999 - 15:35:13 GMT