http://trademarkblog.disqus.com/enThu, 11 Dec 2008 22:34:34 -0000http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/12/can-schools-copyright-their-students-creations.html#comment-4348071<p>In a word, no. First, because "copyright" isn't a verb. Schools can't "copyright" anything. They can own copyrights and they can register copyrights they already own, but they can't "copyright" something. Second, the school owns the copyright only if the work was created by employees of the school, acting within the scope of their employment, or if the work was created by an independent contractor under contract to the school, and the contract agreed in writing that the school would be the copyright owner. If neither of these is the case (as is true here), the school cannot own or register the copyright because it belongs to the creators of the work, not the school they attended. The school might, however, be a joint owner of the copyright if one or more employees of the school made copyright-protectable contributions to the work within the scope of their employment--a question of fact.</p>Bob CumbowThu, 11 Dec 2008 22:34:34 -0000