The Adult Student’s Guide to Copyright Ownership
Gilpin v. Siebert 419 F. Supp 2d 1288 (D. Or. 2006)
Bernadine Gilpin was an employee of the Portland Community College as a counselor. With another college employee, Al Gilpin, she co-authored a book, “College Survival and Success”.
In a copyright infringement action between the two authors, summary judgement was denied because there was insufficient evidence on whether the Work Made For Hire doctrine applied. The court noted that the record was insufficient to determine the following:
-whether the writing was incidental to job duties;
-whether work was created inside or outside the authorized work hours;
-whether the the writing was within her job description;
-whether the writing was written with the intent to benefit the college; and,
-whether the writing was inspired by or derivative to her work experience.
A veritable paint-by-numbers for a professor to own a copyright, it is.