Faculty unions can achieve legally binding contract protections for the right of faculty to control their intellectual and creative works. A recent faculty union contract at the University of Oregon, for example, established a union-administration joint committee to develop recommendations on intellectual property rights, with the recommendations to be incorporated later into the collective bargaining agreement.
These collective bargaining advances are aided by a draft report from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) titled Defending the Freedom to Innovate: Faculty Intellectual Property (IP) Rights After Stanford v. Roche. An AAUP book Recommended Principles to Guide Academy-Industry Relationships, will follow in January 2014, distributed by the University of Illinois Press.
The academic intellectual property issue is drawing attention nationwide. Rather than allowing ourselves to be pushed around by rapid legal and commercial changes, CFA urges all UIUC faculty to stay on top of developments. We will be keeping you posted.
Campus Faculty Association 