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The original was posted on /r/opensource by /u/AlmusDives on 2024-01-29 10:04:23.

I have recently signed an “agreement concerning intellectual property” (IP rules) as part of the standard procedure of taking a new academic position at a university. I have also read through the various open-source (OS) licenses to understand how and why they differ, so while I am not a lawyer, I think I have a reasonable understanding of how they work. However, I noticed that they appear incompatible with the strict IP rules of the university.

The IP rules say that all the intellectual property that I create, “including inventions, patents, copyrights, samples, breeders rights, trademarks and confidential information … shall be in the full and absolute proprietorship of the [ university ]”. While there is a clause that explicitly waives the copyright in the case of theses and published academic papers, open-source software is never mentioned.

It seems that releasing open-source software would potentially violate these rules. Open-source licenses operate under the assumption that developers retain ownership of the software, granting them the authority to issue licenses related to copyright and patents.

Does this make any sense?

I’ve reached out to my university for clarification, but I’m curious if others have encountered similar challenges within their own academic institutions or workplaces?