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Jerry Henderson asks about a policy concerning ownership of works produced for
class.  Does anyone else feel about this as I do?  In short, the idea that a
university can lay claim to ownership of a work produced for class stinks.
 
Can a school claim that a thesis written for a requirement is theirs, not the
student's?  Does the school own a copyright on the work, paper, film,
whatever or does the school have a basis for claiming a copyright? Hardly.
The student is the artist, not the school. The student produces the work, not
the school.
 
A student pays money to take the course, pay for advice and her tuition helps
buy classroom equipment, whether cameras, computers, or overhead projectors.
If the school claims to be a "producer" because it allows the use of film or
video equipment, can a rental company also claim to be a producer because it
rents Arris to users? Not in your dreams.
 
Now if the school would like to pay someone to produce a film for them, and a
contract so stipulates, it's a different matter.  However, any student who
signs away the right to her work simply because it's done for a class
project should look at going to another school where intellectual property is
deemed sacred.
 
Can you imagine a professor at this same school giving up rights to
scholarship because a book or script was partially typed on a university
computer in the professor's office? Fat chance.
 
Let's not apply double standards to students.
 
 
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*  Roger Bullis                  Internet:  [log in to unmask]   *
*                                                                       *
*  Division of Communication                                            *
*  University of Wisconsin      "Never stand under a tall dog"          *
*  Stevens Point, WI  54481                                             *
*                                                                       *
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