Patents, Copyrights, Trade Secrets, and Intellectual Property

The entirety of this policy relates to faculty, staff, and student employees. Section E relates specifically to students and student employees.

Individual faculty and staff, on occasion, generate new ideas and concepts that result in marketable products and opportunities. Piedmont University encourages, promotes, and protects the academic research, scholarship, and development of products of its employees. Simultaneously, the college maintains its commitment to stewardship and cultivation of its financial resources. Individual employees may pursue efforts to create commercially marketable products and, in cases where Piedmont University has invested resources, the college may assert a financial interest in such products.

Intellectual property refers to, but is not limited to, patentable inventions, copyrightable works, trademarks, service marks and trade secrets. Examples include but are not limited to artistic works, musical compositions, computer programs and software, theater scripts, and the like.

Products resulting from creative and scholarly pursuits, culminating in a patent, copyright, trade secret, or intellectual property convey ownership rights to the individual and/or the institution, depending on several factors.

1. Sponsorship - If an outside private (i.e., not state or federally funded) agency funds an activity that results in a product, unless the sponsorship agreement between the individual, the sponsor, and the institution states otherwise, such product will be owned by the institution.
2. Institution work – If a product is developed during the course and conduct of institution-assigned work, the institution owns the product. Income, defined as net revenue after all personal and institutional expenses have been paid, from such property shall be shared between the individual and the institution at the following rate: All income up to the first $8,000 goes to the individual. This amount will be divided equally if more than one individual exists. Remaining income is divided with one-third to the individual and two-thirds to the institution.
3. Institution-assisted work – When institution resources assist and support individual employees in the generation of an income producing product, income shall be shared between the individual and the institution at a rate of 45 percent of net revenue to the institution. Institutional support and assistance may include use of office and laboratory space, technology, access to library, and support staff, and institution-paid time within the employment period.
4. Individual employee work – Any product developed by an individual employee that uses no institution resources, contains no sponsorship agreement, and is unrelated in any way to institution-assigned work, shall be the sole ownership of the individual employee. It is the individual’s responsibility to demonstrate the total independence of the work.
5. Intellectual property rights of students - Intellectual property rights belong to the students who create the work. This includes work that has been created to meet course requirements using college resources whether or not the student has paid tuition or fees for the course. However, work that is created by students as part of their student employment belongs to the college as do the subsequent intellectual property rights.
6. Disputes – Any disputes about ownership of products shall be directed to the President.
7. Copyright Infringement Policies and Sanctions –
   1. File Sharing and Copyright - Many scholars and music artists rely on copyright to protect their intellectual property. "Peer-to-peer" (P2P) file sharing applications have made it easy for Internet users to share files with one another. There are many legitimate uses of P2P file sharing, such as updates and software purchases. However, P2P file sharing applications are also used to share copyrighted material such as songs, movies, software applications, and games without permission. If you upload or distribute copies you make of copyrighted works, or download or acquire unlicensed copies of copyrighted works, you may be infringing someone else’s rights. Although using P2P file sharing technology is not in itself illegal, if you share copyrighted material without permission -- even unwittingly -- you are breaking both the law and college policy and could be subject to college, civil, and/or criminal sanctions.
   2. Summary of Civil and Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws- The Department of Education publishes in the Federal Student Aid Handbook a summary of the civil and criminal penalties for violation of federal copyright laws:
   1. Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file-sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement. Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or "statutory" damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys' fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504 and 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the website of the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov.
   2. Disciplinary action, including loss of use of the University information technology systems up to and including expulsion from the University or employee termination could result from violations of these policies. Piedmont University informs students regarding copyright infringement and academic integrity though each class instructor and is included on all syllabi. The college’s statement can be found in the college 2020-2021 catalog.