QUESTION
Who holds the copyright on software in a thesis?
Asked on Jul 20th, 2012 on Patents - California
More details to this question:
I am a Ph.D. student, and as part of my thesis I have developed a significant software project from scratch. For the first two years of this process, I worked as a teaching assistant, and for about the last year, I have been supported as a research assistant. Who holds the copyright on the software I have created, given that most of the work was done while I was a teaching assistant? Would I benefit from registering my software as a work in progress with the copyright office? I am the sole author of the software in question and am in possession of the only copy in existence.
1 ANSWER
Intellectual Property Attorney serving Irvine, CA
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Shimokaji & Associates, P.C.
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Most likely, the university at which you are a student made it an obligation on your part to assign all intellectual property to the university, assuming you created the software with university time and/or equipment. Therefore, the university likely owns the software.
Answered on Aug 08th, 2012 at 11:58 AM