Intellectual Property and Online Courses: Policies at Major Research Universities

This study describes an investigation of the intellectual property policies of 42 public and private Carnegie Doctoral Research – Extensive Universities. Using a policy analysis framework based on earlier work by Lape (1992) and Packard (2001), policy differences between public and private universities and policy changes across time were analyzed and documented. Although few differences were seen between public and private research universities, substantial changes between the 2001 policies and the 2005 policies were evident. Results were interpreted in terms of the need for comprehensive and explicit policies to support online course development and delivery.