Student or School ownership?

[blankrider]

Recently my high school computer science teacher asked me to create a program for an organization at our school.  The organization liked it so much that they will be attempting to sell it to the rest of the centers across the nation.  I did the majority of the programming at home, but i did have the source code up on school computers.  I understand that if i was being paid by the school (employee) it would be theirs, but how does this stand as a non-paid student.  I did sign an acceptable use policy but no where does it state that anything made on school computers is school property.

Also, can i ask the school to sign away their rights and get the program copyrighted under my name (if they do have rights to it)?

Also, i've posted this in two other forums being told to post here.  so don't get mad at me!  lol

[Smokin]

Well if all the above is correct, then you own the copyright to the program. Frankly its your work and your creation, it does not matter if you were a student or not.

The school should have no rights to your work, if I were you I would register the work right away in your name.

Also, if you are under the age of 18 it does not matter what you signed, you can sign away your soul if you wanted to but its not legally binding.

Not a lawyer

[Kaitlin]

Some websites you might like to check out, which I believe support Smokin's analysis of the copyright issue, are:

http://www.ivanhoffman.com/student.html
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/dspc/tutorial/copyuse/students1.html
http://library.prairiestate.edu/cpyrt.htm
http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/copyright/student/work.html

Would just add a caveat, re being under 18, however.  While generally contracts are not enforceable against minors, this is not an absolute rule for all situations.  There are exceptions (e.g., contracts for "necessitities").  My instinct is to think that certain contracts in a school setting could be among them (student loan contracts are exceptions in some states, I believe), and so I wouldn't want to presume a waiver wouldn't matter without first specifically checking into the enforceability of school agreements against minors (about copyright) in the state in question.  Also, note that if you enter a contract while a minor, and do not object before reaching the age of majority, you may be considered to have "ratified" the contract and be held to it as an adult.  (I'm expecting that a waiver of IP rights would not be enforceable against a minor, but just caution that this should be investigated.)

Another thought for you:  While I believe copyright is by far the form of protection most commonly used for computer programs, if you have some really inventive programming involved, patent law might possibly be implicated.  You may want ask about that (in generalities) in the patent forum and/or do an initial consult (using specifics) with a patent attorney to see if any aspects of your program may be appropriate for patent protection.  (While I believe most foreign countries require you to file for your patent before publicly disclosing the invention, in the US you have a year from first publication.)

[blankrider]

Thanks for the links, they really settled my worries.

It's not really an inventive program, just a program that i was asked to do that happens to be very useful on a national scale and could bring in money for me.  The tech coordinator at my school talked about getting it copyrighted and everything and then trying to get a deal, so i hope that this all goes through.  Thanks for everything

[Kaitlin]

Incidentally, know that your copyright in the work exists from the moment of creation -- when the work was first "fixed" in a medium of expression.  Still, registering your (existing) copyright with the Copyright Office is important to do; this will help you enforce the copyright (can't bring a court case without registering) and get you extra rights (e.g. for money lost due to an infringer). 

Importantly, you should make sure that any copies of the program that get sent out have the (c) symbol, your name, and the year you are first making it public.  (Also, hang onto your notes on what you did to develop the program, as these could be useful proofs later if there's any question about your being the creator.)   Putting the copyright symbol with your name and the year on the program puts anyone using it on notice about your copyright in the work.  You do not need to wait for registration of the copyright to do this.

Also, if you have a name you use with this program which you want to have act as a trademark for it (e.g., you have a clever word or phrase you want to use to identify this program as coming from you, as opposed to some similar program developed by someone else) , you'll want to do some reading on trademark law to see what you can do to protect the name from being used by others (and learn how to guard against choosing a name infringing someone else's mark).  The trademark forum here has lots of good information. 

Good luck!