Ownership of Student Coursework and Inventions

Belongs To Collection(s)
    > student handbook us edition

Materials Created by Students

Students own the copyright to coursework that is their own original creation. This includes, without limitation, papers, dissertations, theses, and capstone projects. New York Tech does not have ownership, but does have the right to copy and distribute these works for non-commercial, educational purposes. Of course, in some cases there will be other contributors to a work, for example a student group project, or a work which has received a significant faculty contribution. In those cases, there will be shared ownership depending on the relative contributions of the individuals involved.

Students also generally own the inventions they create. The student owns all rights to the invention, including the right to obtain patents. The student provides New York Tech only the non-exclusive right to use the invention for non-commercial research and educational purposes. The student owns the invention even if:

There are certain exceptional circumstances in which a third party or New York Tech may have ownership:

Although New York Tech will own the invention (and any resulting patents) in these exceptional circumstances, net royalties from NYIT's licensing of the invention may be shared with the student inventor, on terms determined by the provost.

All patentable inventions that may potentially be owned by the university must be disclosed to the New York Tech Office of Sponsored Research.

Materials Provided to Students

Course materials provided to students by the professor are owned by the professor, New York Institute of Technology, or an outside author or provider, as applicable, and may not be copied or used by students in any manner without permission. For example, it is an unlawful copyright infringement for a student to post course-lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations, exams, or other such materials on websites, whether or not the student receives payment for the posting.