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PSC wins key ruling on intellectual property rights Sept. 22, 2005 A five-judge appeals panel has told the City University of New York that its refusal to negotiate with the Professional Staff Congress on intellectual property issues is unlawful. "The question of who owns, controls and profits from intellectual work is as basic for our members as wages and hours," said PSC President Barbara Bowen. Intellectual property concerns have snagged the attention of higher education teachers for some time over questions about ownership, control and profit from intellectual work. Of particular concern is ownership of patents and copyrights developed by college faculty. PSC, which represents professional faculty and staff at CUNY, maintains that both are owned by the creator, unless otherwise modified through collective bargaining. "This isn't just a win for PSC, but for public employees across the state and nation," said Dick Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers. After the June ruling, PSC demanded to bargain over IP issues, according to the union newspaper, the Clarion. So far, CUNY has refused, instead opting to appeal. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruled in June that management rights language in the union's expired contract — PSC has been without a contract for more than two years — did not exempt CUNY from its duty to negotiate. They ordered that the case be sent back to the state Public Employment Relations Board to set a remedy for CUNY's violations. PSC has been tagging CUNY on this issue since 2000, when its contract demands included provisions on intellectual property. But CUNY circulated a draft of a new IP policy without notifying the union. Similar scenarios in 2001 and 2002 landed the case before PERB, where PSC argued that CUNY's refusal to bargain on IP issues violated the Taylor Law. A PERB administrative law judge ruled in 2003 that CUNY was required to bargain with the union on all parts of the IP policy related to compensation or the resolution of disputes. CUNY appealed, and in 2004 PERB overturned the judge's decision, saying CUNY had the right to adopt policies concerning terms and conditions not addressed in the contract. |
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