From: solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W Solinsky)
Subject: Re: reality check - with apologies
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 00:03:08 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.132409.521@uoft02.utoledo.edu>, dsmith@uoft02.utoledo.edu writes:

|> Also, what about software modifications, ports, shell scripts and anything
|> else that comes under the heading of intellectual property?  For example, if
|> someone in my research group ported MOPAC to a machine on which it previously
|> did not run, then I might consider that ported version intellectual property
|> (with apologies to Jimmie Stewart).  I believe that the ported version need
|> not be made available to others without my permission, although I would 
|> certainly not restrict them from obtaining the public domain source code and
|> doing the port themselves.

If you get a copyright or patent on the program (which is doable under most
grants) you can control it. Otherwise, anybody who is able to obtain access to
the program can use it. If it is a licensed program, which has been licensed
with grant money, then the question of who is able to use it has already been
resolved in the terms of the license. If it was licensed to the university,
department or laboratory (as it was my impression it always was) then they
control it.

With reguard to code that your group has made, you are probably legally able to
prevent others from using it IF you can prevent them from touching it. Clearly,
non-proprietary code residing in the school's computer system will be accessible
by the school. It is generally a bad idea to deny somebody use of your group's
non-proprietary code, but I have seen it done before (even within the same
university). It is also generally a bad idea not to cite somebody when you used
their group's code. If either of these situations are occuring then you have a
HUGE problem.

|> My chairman insists that he can access this software without my permission and
|> without even telling me that he is doing it.  He has refused to speak with me
|> about this, but instead has gone over my head to our Dean, who has (in
|> writing) made a unilateral policy decision that any resources I obtain as a
|> University employee belong to the University, are controlled by the 
|> University, and are openly available to any University employee, faculty or
|> student, without that person having to contact me, the PI.  Our university
|> does not have a written policy on this matter.
|> 
|> I am also under the impression that if the PI moves from one academic or 
|> research institution to another, that the grants typically move as well, even
|> though they were made to the University.  I also believe that, if negotiated,
|> the resources purchased on that grant move (I cannot believe that NIH or
|> NSF want to pay twice for the same glassware, chemicals, software etc. just
|> because someone moved).  Again, my chairman and dean are denying that this
|> is the case.

It says usually says in information about grants pamphlets that transfering
grants to a PIs new university is a standard practice, but it always says
that the university's permission is required for this to occur. You just are
not supposed to have situations where the University and PI are unable to agree
on whether or not the grant is supposed to be transfered.

Jason W. Solinsky
Newsgroups: misc.legal