Computer program / Multimedia product

Many types of computer programs or multimedia products for different applications are developed at universities and are either used as tools for research and education projects or developed as independent products. Such products are often of commercial value to other universities and the private sector and can be licensed to such parties against an adequate financial compensation.

The University owns the exploitation rights to computer programs and multimedia products that were developed within an employee's official duties. Authors are compensated according to the guidelines of the university.

Copyright is a protection that covers individual, intellectual work, e.g. a text, a piece of music, fine art, computer programs or a combination of such works (multimedia products). A fully formulated text is protected by copyright, however, the ideas and concepts behind it are not. The protection begins when any of the above described work is actually created and produced in a tangible form. Although not compulsory, the use of a copyright sign is recommended (©).

The rights of the author or creator of the work are divided into the exploitation rights and the personality rights of the author or creator. The former includes the protection of the financial interests of the author or creator, such as the copying, distribution, rental, performance, or transmission of the work, whereas the latter includes recognition of authorship, the right to be the first to publish, the mentioning of author names, and the integrity of the work. Copyright expires 70 years (50 years in the case of computer programs) after the death of the author or creator.

Unitectra answers questions related to copyright issues and offers assistance regarding the exploitation of software and multimedia products. We support you in your search for licensees, and help you with the negotiation and drafting of licensing agreements. Unitectra advises university employees in legal issues regarding the development of software and of multimedia products.

Please fill in the Software Disclosure Form and send it to us or contact us directly. Together with the researchers we will study the situation for each specific case and define a commercialization strategy. There are many possibilities to be considered. A license can be exclusive or non-exclusive, with costs or for free, with or without access to the source code, for commercial or non-commercial use, with or without copyleft obligation, etc.