Moshe & Joel,
Although I do find “sense” in the role based question (role of faculty in society) that Joel poses, but I also think that there is something missing that Moshe touches on and it relates to the following question:
What is the academy's role in society?
What are some of the substantive contours to those relationships as they relate to IP? I think that these questions point to the relationships between the academy and faculty and the creation of IP and how IP is treated.
The academy's role might take a disproportionably large place in my thinking right now because many of the Open Courseware (OCW) initiatives have been institutional. In addition, it seems to me, at least around Courseware, that the nature of concerns relating to Open Courseware is different for individual faculty members and for academic administrators.
To Moshe's point, at Penn State there is a distinction made between “Commissioned” and “Non- Commissioned” work. Here is some of the language:
When the University initiates the development of courseware as part of a University-employedauthor's normal duties or as a special project for which extra compensation is provided, it willbe considered a commissioned work and the University will own the copyright . . .
. . .In some cases, University personnel may initiate the development of courseware independentof a specific commission by the University. The University makes no claim to copyright ownershipfor noncommissioned courseware initiated and completed by University-employed authors, but,for works within the scope of the author's University employment, will claim the royalty-freenonexclusive right to use such courseware in University programs.
Ken
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