Review of UMUC Intellectual Policy

190.0

Stephanie Martin
DETT611
July 12, 2010
Policy
When first searching for UMUC’s ownership policy I came across a very old
edition that was written May 31, 1990; Policy on Copyrights IV-3.10. In IV-
3.10 edition it made mention that this policy was only good through July 1, 2002
and was replaced by Intellectual Property IV-3.20; but I was unable to find this
policy on my own. After reading the first policy, IV-3.10, I would have had a
difficult time answering some of the questions that were put further due to the
very vague explanation for who owns materials that would be created as a
student, employee or professor.
I finally contacted an associate dean to see what else I could find out on the
subject matter and she explained to me that UMUC is in the process of updating
and revising the Intellectual Property policy. She sent me the last copy that she
is aware of UMUC using, which was Policy 190.0 to use for this project.
What I found with 190.0 was a clearer outline as to who has ownership and how
the ownership royalties will be disseminated was provided. There was a
distinction made between text copyright and computer program copyright but
the computer program copyright was a blanket policy. The policy outlines this
type of material as “computer programs and software and business practices
created”. In addition, a short paragraph states, “since technology-mediated
instructional material is core to the university mission… it will have no
differentiation made to it from any other instructional materials 3.

Ownership of Course Material

Ownership of course material falls into three divisions; personnel, students, and
third party agreements. For personnel and students the university has all rights
when the intellectual property was created in the scope of employment or with
the use of unusual university resources. Unusual university resources refer to
resources beyond that which are normally provided. If the creation was
developed outside the scope of employment or without the use of university
resources, the ownership belongs to the creator but the university has the right to
use the creation in the following ways1:
1. Inclusion within the academic content of those sections of university
course(s) taught by the personnel who created the personalized course
content

1. Section V, part b-2

2. Section IV, part f
3. Section IX
4. Section XI
5. Section XII
Page 1
 2. Embodiment in one or more copies as part of that academic content for
the delivery of those sections of university course(s) taught by the
personnel who created the personalized course content
3. Publication or delivery as part of that academic content to participants
in those sections of university course(s) taught by the personnel who
created the personalized course
4. Retention as part of that academic content in order to archive that
university course and use of that archive record for all usual archive
purposes of the university, including course evaluation, evaluation and
comparison of the personalized course content or the personnel member
who created the personalized course content, implementation of other
university policies, research, library or record-keeping purposes.

Third Party Agreements

Third party agreements fall under three different divisions; sponsored research
agreements, federal sponsorship, and external collaborations. Sponsored
research created either by a student or personnel belongs to the university but on
a case by case basis some exceptions may be may for the contractor to have
ownership, with the university having full use of the creation. For materials
that are sponsored by a federal agency, the agency will govern the rights to use
the property; the university may still elect title to any invention that is conceived
of or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of federally-funded
research with the purpose of commercializing the invention, subject to the
government’s right2.
Other third party agreements the university owns all rights to the copyrighted
work that may be produced under contract. The President can negotiate the
contract so that an agreement can be made with the third party for ownership,
licensure and compensation before the work is completed.

Collaborations
In the event that materials are developed as collaboration, due to the student,
personnel, or professor being employed or attending, any other system
component the following would apply4:

1. Section V, part b-2

2. Section IV, part f
3. Section IX
4. Section XI
5. Section XII
Page 2
 1. Joint appointment would apply to the terms of the appointment shall
apply to the ownership and protection of intellectual property.
2. Agreements govern can be signed between UMUC and system
components to agree upon ownership before development
3. For students intellectual property created within the framework of the
student’s university course work or program
The President who may ask the Chancellor to intercede if the system
components are unable to reach an agreement will handle all disputes in the
above matters between university and other system components regarding
creations.

Revenue Sharing
For copyright revenue, the university holds that as an employee they are already
compensated for their work with the university so unless otherwise agreed upon
they will not be compensated further.
Patents that were created outside the scope of employment belong solely to the
personnel or student but if they use university resources then the revenue is
broken down in the following way5:
Deductions from revenue:
1) Creator or inventor shares first 10% of revenue up to $10,000 but the
Chancellor sets this limit each fiscal year.
2) General costs in the amount of up to 30% will be deducted from the
revenue by the university.
3) The remaining 60% of revenue will go to the university to cover any
costs they may have incurred beyond the 30%. After this
disbursement, revenue may be disbursed to the inventor for any cost
incurred during their work but only if this was agreed upon in writing
in advance.
4) Once all project costs are paid, any remaining revenue may be paid to
the creator unless the maximum amount in (1) has already been
reached.

Distribution of Net Revenue:

1. Section V, part b-2
2. Section IV, part f
3. Section IX
4. Section XI
5. Section XII
Page 3
 1. The university shall distribute 50% of the net revenue to the creators or
inventors.
2. The university will receive 50% of the net revenue.

Compliance
All policies with the Intellectual Property policy 190.0 are self-governed by each
personnel, student, and third party. It is each person’s responsibility to notify
the university when entering into outside contracts, working on research or
creating an invention.
The President of the university is responsible for all intellectual property; the
President reports annually to the Chancellor and the Board of Regents on such
matters. It is also the Presidents responsibility to investigate all creations, assign
ownership, disburse funds and distribute equity.
There is no mention as to how disputes are handled other than the collaboration
works between two bodies and even then, it is not clearly stated as to how the
dispute will be handle but just that they will need to include the Chancellor in
the negotiations.
The only reference made to other policies as they apply to this policy is the
reference to older versions of 190.0; which is the IV-3.20 that replaced the IV-
3.10 but I am unable to locate that policy. In updating the new policy, the
relevant information from all old policies should be used in the current policy
rather than just a reference. In this case, I am unable to locate the IV-3.20,
which was referred in this policy, so I am still unsure of the what information
they are speaking of on those particular subject matters.

Discourage or Encourage

1. Section V, part b-2

2. Section IV, part f
3. Section IX
4. Section XI
5. Section XII
Page 4
This policy seems to be a standard across most universities from what I have
found. I checked the policies for University of California Berkley, because the
associate dean I spoke to told me that they had a few professors who have
inventions that they market themselves so I wanted to know how. These
professors had an agreement with the university before starting the creation. In
the UMUC policy this option is also available to creators or inventors; allowing
them to feel like they have some control over the project. The compensation
that is set forth for patent is fair and I think that it would encourage development
of creations.
Concerning the copyright policy for employee creation, I think that this
discourages creation if all material belongs to the university. This would mean
that all course material that is developed by a professor belongs solely to the
university rather than a joint ownership like the patents. In a professors mind
their creation of course material can be just like an invention that could be
patented and I believe that universities should address this as such.
This policy is written well in setting forth an outline as to what each party is
responsible for and what they can and cannot do in their scope as a student and
employee. The only loose part of the policy is how do they govern the policy
and what steps do they take once there is a conflict of interest. When reading
the older version of this policy, IV-3.10, I was confused on who owned what
and how they decide or handle disputes. Therefore, they have made some
headway in clearly outlining ownership of works but not how they handle
disputes; maybe this will come in the update they are currently working on.

Reference
http://wwwumuc.edu/policy/research/research19000.shtml

1. Section V, part b-2

2. Section IV, part f
3. Section IX
4. Section XI
5. Section XII
Page 5