In a recent podcast, Neal Seth and I discussed protection of ideas, focusing particularly on the problem where someone has a business plan, a concept, a script, or really just an idea for doing something. They want to pursue it somehow, but they’re worried that sharing it with anybody will open them up to all [...]

The Associated Press reported yesterday about a University of Missouri student who invented an iPhone app in a class, then was successful in generating more than 250,000 downloads of the app, and finally was contacted by lawyers for the University demanding a 25% royalty on all earnings from the app. According to the AP, the [...]

Can college and university teachers take their course materials, presentations, notes, slides, PowerPoints, syllabi and other teaching resources with them when they leave their current positions?  Can they sell or license these materials to online universities or market them through Amazon? For a group that tends to dispute everything even a position that would presumably [...]

“Work Made For Hire”, 17 USC §101: An original, copyright-able work (meaning: a work that falls within the subject matter of copyright protection) qualifies as a “work made for hire” if the work either (1) is created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment or (2) qualifies as “work made for [...]