Identify and contact the copyright holder(s). This can be a complex and difficult process, especially for older, foreign, or unpublished works. But obtaining permission may be required if the use of the work is not covered by educational exemptions, your publisher requires that you obtain permission, or other contract and license restrictions apply.

Permissions may also be obtained from the Copyright Clearance Center. Make permissions requests in writing and keep that documentation.

 

If the film was a lawfully acquired copy and integral to the course and its instructional goals then you can show it in the classroom (face-to-face teaching). For distance learning, performing a "reasonable and limited" amount of a film is permitted provided that access is limited to students in the class only for the term of the course. Performing AV works online is also permitted if there is a public performance (PPR) or streaming license for that particular work.

That depends. Investigating the copyright status of content found online is an essential part of due diligence.

However, it is not always apparent if the work is protected by copyright or what entity retains the copyright. Given how often and easily a single work can be reused and shared online, finding the origin of the work can be challenging. Some works may also have multiple copyright holders.

Look for the website’s terms and conditions or other types of copyright statements such as Creative Commons licenses to help determine permitted uses.

No. Copyright and plagiarism are two separate but related concepts. Attribution does not protect you against copyright infringement or liability.

No. "Copyright law does not protect ideas, methods, or systems. Copyright protection is therefore not available for ideas or procedures for doing, making, or building things; scientific or technical methods or discoveries; business operations or procedures; mathematical principles; formulas or algorithms; or any other concept, process, or method of operation."

However, some of these may qualify for other types of intellectual property protections.

 

NJIT developed its Supplemental Code of Ethics to provide clear guidance to employees working in a scholarly capacity on consulting, development of commercial enterprises and other outside professional activities, in accordance with State ethics regulations.

These activities provide an important means of continuing education for the faculty and grant experience in aspects of their professional fields outside the context of NJIT itself.  These activities can also provide a mechanism for the transfer of knowledge from the University to the public good.

Data as a representation of fact is not generally protected. However, data may be protected if:

1. The data constitute a copyrighted work (literary work, chart, graph, audiovisual work, sound recording, etc.) or
2. The data is a compilation of data elements such as a database.

Databases can have some copyright protection if creative decisions were made regarding how the elements are organized and interrelated. Licensing and contract law often govern how data is reused.

Per NJIT’s policy, revenues from license fees, royalties and equity – minus NJIT’s administrative fee and any unreimbursed expenses – are shared with the inventor(s).

 

You should complete an invention disclosure whenever you feel you have discovered something unique with possible commercial value. This should be done well before presenting the discovery through publications, speeches, poster sessions, conferences, or other communications. Once the invention is publicly disclosed, potential patent rights are limited.

Be sure to inform the IPTLO of any imminent or prior presentation, lecture, poster, abstract, website description, video presentation, research proposal, dissertation/master’s thesis, publication, or other public presentation of the invention. Please note that a thesis is considered a publication even if it is embargoed.

Submit an invention disclosure form using the e-disclosure portal and follow the simple instructions. You will be contacted soon after your invention disclosure is received by the IPTLO about next steps. Contact IPTLO if you have any questions.

 

Publishing or presenting can prevent us from obtaining patent protection, so be sure to contact IPTLO well before any presentation, lecture, poster, abstract, website description, research proposal submission, dissertation/master’s thesis, publication, or other public presentation of the invention.

There are significant differences between the U.S. and other countries as to how early publication affects a potential patent. Once publicly disclosed (published or presented in some form), an invention may have a restricted or minimal potential for patent protection outside of the United States.

Anything that is readily available to the public (a journal paper, a conference presentation, an online publication, even a dissertation indexed at the library) that describes the basic ideas in enough detail that someone else would be able to make and use the invention; i.e., those ideas that are new.

Showing or telling these ideas may also constitute disclosure, as does selling or offering for sale a prototype of the invention.

If the invention was created in the process of research funded by the government, the government retains certain rights in the invention.

 

Generally, the invention will be jointly owned between NJIT and the other institution or company. Each inventor will assign his or her rights to their employer. The IPTLO will work with the other institution to decide on management of the invention.

Usually, if the other institution is a university or research institution, we will make an inter-institutional agreement that provides for one of the institutions to take the lead in protecting and licensing the invention, sharing of expenses associated with the patenting process, and allocating any licensing revenues.

Currently, the average U.S. utility patent application is pending for about three years, though inventors in the biotech and computer fields should plan on a longer waiting period. Once a patent is issued, it is enforceable for 20 years from the initial filing of the non-provisional application that resulted in the patent.

 

A provisional patent application allows NJIT to begin securing patent rights while a non-provisional patent application is the first step toward a legally recognized patent. A provisional patent application is meant to help protect your idea and give you time to perfect it. Once you have the design and function ready, you can apply for the non-provisional patent application.

Your active involvement can dramatically improve the chances of matching an invention to an outside company. Your research and consulting relationships are often helpful in both identifying potential licensees and technology champions within companies.

Once interested companies are identified, the inventor is the best person to describe the details of the invention and its technical advantages. The most successful technology transfer results are obtained when the inventor and the licensing professional work together as a team to market and promote use of the technology.

That depends. Each publisher and publishing agreement outlines what kind of uses are permitted and what rights the author retains. You can check publisher rights and access policies at SHERPA/RoMEO, an online service that aggregates publisher access and self-archiving policies.

 

Some rights to think about keeping when publishing your work are the right to make derivative works, the right to include all or part of the work in a future thesis, dissertation, or other scholarly publication, or the right to archive or preserve the work as part of an institutional repository or your own website.

Consider using the SPARC Author Addendum as a legal instrument that modifies the publisher’s agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles.

That depends. Since the work is published and most likely some if not all of your copyrights are now contractually granted to the publisher, it is likely that you would require permission. It might also be the case that you would need to ask permission of your co-authors since collaborating on a single work creates a joint work, collective work, or compilation.

 

Probably. Works published in the United States remain protected by copyright until 70 years after the death of the author, even out-of-print works.

 

A work made for hire is any work created during or within the scope of a person’s employment. A work for hire can also be a work specially ordered or commissioned for use by the employer. To learn more, see NJIT’s policy on copyright.

 

That depends. If you are using photos, text excerpts, scientific drawings or diagrams, etc. you may need the author’s permission to include them if fair use exceptions don’t apply. You may also need permission if you are including archival materials for which you accepted certain terms of use.

All expenses must help achieve the objectives of the program. Depending upon the type of expenses, prior written approval from the sponsor may be necessary before the purchase is completed.

Depending on how you are depositing or publishing your thesis or dissertation, you may also be asked to secure permission for the use of copyrighted materials prior to publication. For more information on thinking through the process, see the library’s guide on Copyright and Your Thesis or Dissertation.

Apart from general inquiries, the initial step in establishing contact with the IPTLO is usually the submission of an Invention Disclosure Form. For more information and inventor FAQs, see our For Inventors page.

 

Copyright covers works of sufficient creativity and originality. Patents cover inventions, devices, formulas, tools or "anything that has utility." There are design patents and utility patents which offer limited duration property rights relating to patentable inventions. A trademark is a word, phrase or logo, that uniquely identifies a product or service.

 

In the United States, the general rule is the life of the author plus 70 years. If it is an anonymous work or belongs to a corporate author then the term is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation - whichever is shorter. This applies to works created after January 1st, 1978. Works created prior to 1978 have varying terms.

 

Most works created prior to 1923 are in the public domain. For more detail about copyright terms in the United States see the Cornell University Library guide. Works published outside of the United States will be covered by that country’s copyright laws.

Copyright laws differ from country to country. This also means that copyright exceptions enjoyed in the United States are not always internationally enforceable.