The College’s intellectual property policy regarding ownership of materials, copyright issues, and the use of revenue derived from the creation and production of all intellectual property is based upon Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees Policy 321.01. According to College policy, the terms of compliance are listed as follows:
Definition: An intellectual property (IP) is a trademark, copyright, or patent resulting from the creation of any instructional resource or technology. (Examples are copyrights from textbooks, literary works; patents from inventions of machines, software; and trademarked materials, such as Xerox, SlimFast, or IBM.)
Ownership: The IP created by the individual on his or her own time and without the use of College resources (i.e., laboratories, library), the ownership in trademark, copyright, or patent belongs to the person creating the property. However, the IP created by the individual partially on his or her own time and partially on College time using College resources (i.e., laboratories, library), the ownership in trademark, copyright, or patent belongs to Coastal Alabama Community College.
Royalties: Where a marketable IP is created, the individual may share in royalties. Coastal Alabama Community College and the individual who creates a marketable IP will be treated equally and on a fair basis with regard to any compensation supplemental to the pay of the individual where appropriate. Any financial compensation made shall be made solely from the proceeds derived from the sales of the IP and not from any other state or federal funds. The portion of any royalty received will be in direct relationship to the verifiable amount of personal time, resources, and funds that are reasonable and necessary for the creation of the product. Coastal Alabama Community College and the individual must enter into an agreement for compensation prior to the creation of the product. This agreement must be approved in writing by the Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System prior to payment of any compensation, according to Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees Policy. The compensation agreement between the College and the individual must contain a caveat that the agreement is not necessarily in compliance with, and is not an exemption from, the Alabama Ethics Law. Thus, within ten (10) days of the execution of an agreement, a copy must be filed with the Alabama Ethics Commission.