FutureU™ Statement of Position on Intellectual Property

By Claude Whitmyer

Official Copyright Notice

Unless otherwise noted, all content on this or any other FutureU™ Web page or Web site are copyrighted by The University of the Future, LLC, aka FutureU ™. All rights reserved. (For example, in the FutureU™ Community Guidelines, we explicitly state that all postings to the FutureU™ virtual communities are the property of the author of each posting.) For information about or permission to use intellectual property copyrighted by The University of the Future see our Copyright and Trademark statement.

The Intellectual Property Issue

The rapid growth of multimedia and its distribution through the Internet has created a high level of uncertainty regarding interpretation of established intellectual property law. The courts are still in the process of interpreting trademark, patent and copyright laws to apply them to new products and services such as movies, tapes, CDs, software programs, and finally the Internet and other electronic media. It is still unclear in many areas how trademark, copyright and patent law will evolve so as to promote the progress and transfer of knowledge and technology. There is no doubt that law in this area will change radically in the next few years.

The University of the Future, LLC (FutureU™) is committed to protecting its own and others’ intellectual property rights. At the same time, we are committed to the concept that paradigm shifts in the areas of economics, production, ownership, and creativity require careful rethinking and reinterpretation of intellectual property laws. We believe that it is in the best interests of everyone to act ethically in accordance with both the letter and the spirit of law.

FutureU’s Position

At FutureU we believe that artists, crafts persons, inventors, writers or any other individuals have the right to receive fair value from those who use their ideas and creations. Beyond the fact that intellectual property rights represent a basic building block of democracy, these rights are the sole means for many to making a living. Therefore, it is FutureU’s current position, that it is the responsibility of each individual to respect the intellectual property rights of every other individual including but not limited to clients, staff, or participants in any FutureU™ course, discussion, forum, event, meeting or any other service or exchange. And that original works are the intellectual property of their creator(s) unless otherwise stated in writing.

FutureU also considers it the responsibility of all clients of and participants in its services to become familiar with the basic tenets of the law and with the issues in areas where reinterpretations are being made concerning online manners, ethics, privacy, intellectual property, copyright, fair use, and public domain. You can begin this familiarization process by visiting the FutureU™ pages on “Netiquette” and “Public Domain.”

What to Do

Copyright notations for intellectual property contributed to any FutureU™ course, discussion forum, event, meeting or any other service should include the names of all entities involved in creation of the intellectual property (document, image, concept, etc.) such as peers, clients, students, or whomever. It is acceptable to name organizations as copyright holders, while crediting individual participants in the text of written material, so long as all participants in the creation of the intellectual property agree. Regarding specific copyright information for FutureU™ see our Copyright and Trademark Information.