Intellectual Property Policies in Academe: Issues and Concerns with Digital Scholarship

The generation of digital scholarship, through both research and teaching/learning activities, has caused colleges and universities to either create or revise their institutions’ intellectual property policies. Many factors should be considered when crafting a comprehensive and fair policy. This discussion focuses on the relatively new interest by higher education institutions in the copyright ownership of scholarly literary works, which has traditionally rested with the faculty creator. Digital technologies have led to the easy reproduction and commodification of these creations, prompting institutions to rethink their positions. The discussion considers the characteristics of copyrightable digital works, competing interests in the ownership of such works, and the federal legal provisions in place that offer an understanding of copyrights in these contexts. The discussion closes with remarks about intellectual property policies currently used in American higher education institutions.