2.040 Intellectual Property

In recognition of its role as a learning institution whose mission includes the promotion of creativity, innovation, diversity in hiring and teaching excellence, Delta College strongly encourages all members of the Delta College Community (DCC) to develop Intellectual Property* – works of authorship, inventions, and discoveries – that may be subject to protection by law. As part of this commitment, Delta College encourages members of the College community to continue to develop, improve, upgrade, and prepare derivative works from any Intellectual Property initially developed under this policy.

The Intellectual Property policy, including the guidelines and procedures, provides a framework for who holds property rights and is designed to balance Delta College's commitment to its values and principles as a teaching/learning institution and its obligations to its stakeholders which provide the resources necessary to support the College and its mission.

Under United States copyright law, the College owns the Intellectual Property created by its employees who are acting within the scope of their employment as a work made for hire.**

 Members of the DCC who create Intellectual Property outside the scope of their employment (i.e., on their own time, and without the use of substantial College Resources***) own those works. The College shall not claim ownership of such property.

As a matter of policy, creators of Scholarly Works**** own those works, with the following conditions and exceptions.

1. 1. Conditions: Under this policy:
      1. The College may use and derive Scholarly Works:
         1. for education or administrative purposes consistent with its educational mission and academic norms, such as uses under the fair use doctrine, Section 110(1) of the Copyright Act (performances and displays in face-to-face teaching), Section 110(2) of the Copyright Act (the TEACH Act) and other uses without authorization permitted by law;
         2. when developed collaboratively between Delta College, faculty, administrative professional and/or support staff employees;
         3. when created for course, discipline, program, curriculum development, assessment or accreditation using College support or resources, including ordinary use of computers or other technology resources, support or administrative resources, use of offices or Professional Development Accounts; does not include individual content, e.g. class notes, new media creations, or assignments; or
         4. As permitted by written or verbal consent of the creator of the creator of Scholarly Works.
      2. The College may preserve, archive, and host Scholarly works in its institutional repositories, where the owner(s) can control the timing and scope of access to their copyrighted works.
   2. Exceptions: Creators of scholarly works may not own those works:
      1. When such ownership violates or conflicts with an applicable contract or law, in which case the applicable contract or law will control;
      2. When specifically commissioned by the College or created as part of an assignment to, for, or on behalf of the College, except as may be defined by Agreement;
      3. When Substantial College Resources***were used in the creation, development, or production of the work, except as may be defined by agreement.
      4. When they collaborate to create intellectual property, a “joint work” may be created, in which all the rights holders jointly hold nonexclusive rights to use the work. DCC members who collaborate with each other or with non-College third-parties (e.g., volunteers, visitors, and collaborators) are encouraged to describe or determine, in writing, the disposition of property rights prior to creating the work; or, if the nature or value of such project or intellectual property is not apparent prior to its creation,  prior to exploiting the work.

Creators of scholarly works may share their work with the College community.

Employees should always be aware that Delta College is a public institution subject to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Generally, the public has the right to inspect and/or receive copies of public records maintained by the College, in any format, including digital, unless an exception under FOIA applies.

* Intellectual Property: Includes works of authorship, inventions and discoveries that may be subject to protection by patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks and trade secrets. Includes, without limitation: books, texts, articles, workpapers, monographs, glossaries, bibliographies, study guides, laboratory manuals, course packs, syllabi, assessments, handouts, lectures, musical compositions, dramatic compositions, unpublished scripts, films, filmstrips, charts, transparencies or other visual aids, video and audio recordings, computer programs and software applications, live video and audio broadcasts, computerized and computer-assisted instruction materials, Internet course content, programmed instruction materials, digital media, multimedia instructional materials, processes and methodologies, drawings, graphics, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other works of art.

**Work Made For Hire: Works created within the scope of employment or as an assigned institutional duty that may, for example, be included in a written job description or an agreement may be fairly deemed works made for hire. This does not apply to Scholarly Works.

***Substantial College Resources: Means that the College has provided support or resources of a degree or nature that is more than incidental and includes special support, either in the form of funding or the use of facilities, equipment and associated supplies, or staff. However, for Scholarly Works**** related to College professional responsibilities, ordinary use of computers, or other technology resources, support or administrative resources, or use of offices do not constitute substantial College resources. In addition, use of College libraries and Professional Development Accounts are not considered Substantial College Resources. A variety of activities may be pursued in connection with a Sabbatical Leave, as noted in Policy 2.090 and the corresponding procedures. Some may constitute work-for-hire, while others may produce works that fall under the definition of Scholarly Works.  The rights to any intellectual property created in connection with a Sabbatical Leave will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

****Scholarly Works: Intellectual property authored or created in connection with teaching, research or scholarship of which the employee rather than the College determines the subject matter, the intellectual approach and direction, and the conclusions.

See Procedures Manual – Intellectual Property

Board Action – June 14, 2016
Revisions by Senate Publications Committee – August 28, 2013
Board Action 4183 – October 10, 2000