Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures Table of Contents

Intellectual Property

Policy and Procedures

BOT Approved:

6/21/2017

Revised:

Reviewed:

Revised:

7/2/2018

7/1/2019

7/1/2020

7/1/2021

7/1/2022

Table of Contents

I. Philosophy and Scope ............................................................................................................ 1

II. Definitions for the Purpose of this Policy and Procedures ................................................ 1

III. Responsible Senior Leader and Responsible Office ........................................................... 3

IV. Entities Affected by this Policy and Procedures ................................................................. 3

V. Procedures .............................................................................................................................. 3

VI. Related Policies and Procedures .......................................................................................... 6

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

I. Philosophy and Scope

Frederick Community College (“FCC” or the “College”) encourages, incentivizes, and

recognizes research, publishing, and other activities by faculty and staff that further the

institution’s mission. The College seeks to achieve a fair balance between the rights of

Creators who are employees and independent contractors, and the rights of the College

related to intellectual property developed using its resources. This Policy and Procedures

applies to the creation of intellectual property by members of the College community.

To ensure that FCC complies with laws governing patents, copyrights, trademarks and

other intellectual property rights, this Policy and Procedures establishes procedures for all

members of the College community while performing official College tasks.

Procedures are outlined in general terms and may not cover every possible situation.

Certain provisions and procedures may not apply to students’ work in the classroom.

Contact the Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Continuing

Education, and Workforce Development for clarification as needed.

II. Definitions for the Purpose of this Policy and Procedures

A. “Intellectual property” refers to the product of creative or scholarly efforts, whether

or not protected by patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret laws, contract, or

agreement. Expressions of original ideas, objects, data, applications, and processes

are considered to be intellectual property. Expressions could include written material,

spoken descriptions, models, sketches, musical scores (including any accompanying

words), sculptures, software code and programs (and related manuals and/or

documentation), websites or web pages, audiovisual works, architectural works,

dramatic works (including any accompanying music), pantomimes and choreographic

works, and paintings. Such property includes, but is not limited to, inventions, goods,

materials, course material, lab manuals, instruments, equipment, biological

organisms, chemical compositions, mask works, computer software, graphics, literary

and musical works, and trademarks. The intellectual property may be in tangible or

intangible form. Intellectual property in tangible form may be physically distributed.

Intellectual property may be protected by one or more of the following: patent,

B. “College resources” refers to College premises, property, IT resources, personnel,

branding, or funding.

C. “College premises” refers to buildings or grounds owned, leased, operated,

controlled, supervised, or temporarily used by the College.

D. “College community” refers to trustees, students, and all employees of the College

as well as any independent contractors or other third parties to the extent articulated

under contractual agreements.

E. “Creative Commons licensing” refers to licensing that enables creators of

copyrighted work to grant permission to others to retain (make and own a copy),

reuse (use in a wide range of ways), revise (adapt, modify, and improve), remix

(combine two or more), and redistribute (share with others).

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

F. “Creator” refers to any member of the College community who is the originator of

intellectual property.

G. “Fair Use” refers to the right to use copyrighted materials without consent of the

owner, usually for scholarship, teaching, research, or criticism, as

stipulated by Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act.

H. “Incidental use of College resources” refers to the normal use of office space and

facilities generally available to all College employees, such as libraries, computers,

equipment, and support staff and does not (1) involve the procurement of special

supplies, services, equipment, or other support by the College; (2) constitute more

than ten percent (10%) of the normal duty time of any administrator or classified

employee in any semester; (3) involve released or reassigned time; (4) demand more

than 20% of the normal work hours of assisting College employees in any semester.

Incidental resources that are available to employees generally should not be counted

in the assessment of the use of College resources or general funds.

I. “Invention” refers to an invention, which may or may not be patentable, and is: (1) a

new design for a product or device; (2) a new process, sequence, or methodology; or

(3) a new use or application of a product, device, process, sequence, or methodology.

An invention may also be an improvement of any of these three.

J. “Information Technology resources” refers to resources that include, but are not

limited to, telephones, mobile devices, computers, printers, scanners, servers,

networking devices, public access computers, and licensed software and services.

These resources are often involved in the processing, storage, accessing, and

transmission of data owned by, controlled by, or contracted to the College.

K. “Patent” refers to any work recognized by a national patent office to have been

created or invented by the bearer of the patent, alongside the rights and protections

granted by ownership of the patent.

L. “Student Work” refers to work that is prepared by an FCC student.

M. “Trademark” refers to any symbol or combination of symbols which serve to

identify the commercial source of items marked by the symbol.

N. “Trade Secret” refers to any information, including, but not limited to, a formula,

pattern, compilation, computer software, data, device, method, technique, process, or

application that: (1) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not

being generally known to and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by

other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (2) is the

subject of efforts that are reasonable, under existing circumstances, to maintain its

secrecy.

O. “Work for Hire” refers to language in the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, and

refers to copyrightable intellectual property, which is, for the purposes of this Policy

and Procedures, deliverable to FCC, (1) prepared by an employee within the scope of

their employment, or (2) produced as a result of a special order or commission by

FCC. Work created pursuant to a research agreement between FCC and an outside

party, either a private sector company or a governmental agency, is considered to be

within the scope of employment.

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

III. Responsible Senior Leader and Responsible Office

Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Continuing Education, and

Workforce Development

Center for Teaching and Learning

IV. Entities Affected by this Policy and Procedures

The College community

V. Procedures

A. Ownership and Rights to Intellectual Property

1. Ownership

a. For intellectual property created with incidental use of College resources or no

use of College resources, the Creator retains ownership.

b. The College owns intellectual property created using College resources,

unless the College, in its sole discretion, recognizes a specific exception. By

way of example only, for intellectual property created using College resources

but not at the direction of the College, employees can seek prior approval for

Creator ownership. Should such approval be granted by the College, an

agreement may be established between the College and the Creator, which

maintains the right of the College to use the intellectual property for its

educational mission and the development of its employees, and a royalty share

may be established between the College and the employee. Other exceptions

may be made by the College on a case-by-case basis (e.g., Faculty & Staff

Writers Group, Sabbaticals).

c. For intellectual property created at the direction of the College and with

College resources, the College retains ownership and rights to the work,

subject to specific written agreements between the College and the Creator to

the contrary.

d. Course and program descriptions, course justifications, student learning

outcomes, course syllabi, and any other curriculum materials submitted by any

FCC faculty member or staff member to the College Curriculum Review

Committee for approval of a course, degree or certificate program, or other

course of study shall be considered work for hire and within the scope of

employment of any such faculty member or staff member. The copyright in

such curriculum material shall belong to FCC.

e. The College does not claim ownership for works developed by a member

prior to becoming a member of the FCC community and prior to having any

access to College resources such as works brought to the College from another

place of employment.

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

f. The College shall own and have all rights to any inventions, trademarks,

patents, and/or trade secrets discovered, created, or developed by College

employees using FCC time, resources, facilities, or equipment, except as

otherwise provided in this Policy and Procedures. This right shall include, but

not be limited to, inventions that are (a) developed in the course of or pursuant

to a sponsored project or other agreement, or (b) developed under a written

agreement with FCC and with funds provided by FCC, or (c) developed using

FCC time, resources, facilities, or equipment, or (d) offered to FCC by the

Creators and accepted by FCC. Creators shall have the right to guide the use

by FCC of their inventions.

g. The College has the right to use Student Work for assessment and other non-

commercial purposes without entering into any agreement with the student.

An agreement must be established with the student if Student Work is to be

used by the College or a College employee for other purposes.

2. Exceptions to Creator Ownership of Intellectual Property

Unless prior approval is established and, unless otherwise stated below, an

agreement is entered into between the College and the Creator, the following

types of intellectual property are not owned by the Creator:

a. Work for Hire - For purposes of ownership of works for hire, ownership vests

in the College, unless there is a specific written agreement regarding the

creation of the work and that agreement specifically vests title or ownership in

someone other than the College. In the case of non-employee third parties

with which the College is contracting for services related to creation or

development of the work, it is the general policy of the College (subject to

exception approved by the President or the designee of the President) to enter

into written “works for hire” agreements in which the College will obtain or

retain ownership rights in the work as part of the agreement for work or

services. Where the College owns the copyright in a work, it may

acknowledge Creators (including Creators of works for hire) who have made a

substantial creative contribution to the work.

b. Institutional Works - Work produced as a collaborative effort under the

supervision and/or direction of the College.

The College owns institutional works. Accordingly, software and software-

related documentation, as well as other works created by employees at the

direction of the College for administrative support purposes, such as

documents for administrative use and computer software created by non-

faculty staff employees of the College for use by the College, are considered

works for hire.

c. Educational Works - Work that is related to curriculum and materials used for

the primary purpose of instruction for FCC students.

Unless otherwise negotiated prior to their creation, educational works created

or developed for the primary purpose of instruction for FCC students by

College employees during their employment with the College are owned by

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

the College and the College has the right to modify, amend, and develop

derivative uses for College purposes.

Lecture notes, articles, books, games, movies, simulations, software, videos,

art and music works and other publications created by faculty members and

technology created outside of the classroom and brought into the classroom

are not considered within the scope of employment for purposes of this Policy

and Procedures unless there is a specific written agreement between FCC and

a faculty member, which provides that a deliverable will be considered a work

for hire.

d. Grant Funded and Sponsored Works

When work is created with the support of an external entity through an

agreement such as a grant or contract, and when any term or condition of the

agreement conflicts or is inconsistent with this Policy and Procedures, then the

conflicting or inconsistent term(s) contained in the agreement shall determine

ownership of the intellectual property in that work.

e. Non-Credit Adjunct Faculty Works

With respect to non-credit instruction, the College will retain rights to

unlimited use of all course titles and descriptions, regardless of the non-credit

adjunct faculty’s employment status with the College, unless material is under

quizzes) created outside the scope of the non-credit adjunct faculty’s normal

responsibilities and produced without the use of College resources remain the

sole intellectual property of the non-credit adjunct faculty member. A copy of

all course materials will be kept by the Program Manager.

B. Copyright and Fair-Use

The “Fair Use” doctrine allows educators and students to use copyrighted materials

without seeking prior approval to certain types of resources under certain conditions

without prior approval, which may include College-owned copyrighted material. For

additional guidance, please see the Copyright Policy and Procedures.

C. Agreements Related to Ownership of Intellectual Property

As indicated throughout this Policy and Procedures, the College may enter into legal

agreements related to the creation and/or ownership of intellectual property.

Agreements will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with the goal to achieve a fair

balance between the rights of Creators who are employees of the College, and the

rights of the College related to the intellectual property developed using its resources.

D. Creative Commons Licensing

license to appropriate works for the purposes of sharing and dissemination. For more

information about Creative Commons licenses, see the Copyright Resource Guide or

contact the Copyright Resource Officer.

Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures

between the Creator and FCC are determined by the agreement. However, some

works and materials created through publicly funded contracts and grants (grantors)

may require open licensing, published as an Open Educational Resource (OER), and

carry a specific Creative Commons license. Grantees may be required to develop

learning materials such as books, courses, modules, seminars, tutoring systems, and

simulations as Open Educational Resources and use industry-leading e-learning open

standards and specifications. In accordance with grant agreements, FCC will maintain

its copyright over grant and contract-funded materials, in accordance with stipulations

concerning dissemination, reuse, and adaptation of those materials under the

designated Creative Commons license. For more information about CC Licenses see

the Copyright Resource Guide.

E. Dispute Resolution

Should a dispute about the application of this Policy and Procedures arise between the

Creator(s) and the College, resolution is first pursued using the Complaint Policy and

Procedures for Employees.

VI. Related Policies and Procedures

Complaint Policy and Procedures for Employees