Intellectual Property

Copyright questions can arise in a variety of contexts. Your department may be developing student or faculty projects, where ownership and rights issues could be present. Your department may retain vendors to prepare creative content for the University. The ability to use technology and create multimedia works also implicates copyright issues. Please contact our Office (of the General Counsel x2157) as you begin planning these projects.

“Fair Use” is an exception to copyright law which may apply in certain situations.

University’s name and/or logo usage for projects, ventures, and websites
Members of the University community must seek permission from the University’s Marketing and Communications Department to use the University’s name or logo. If permission is granted, use of the name or logo must be done in a legal way. You will need to coordinate terms of use with Marketing and Communications and our Office. Third parties generally are not allowed to use the University’s name or logos. Please contact Vanessa Salas in Marketing and Communications for more information. For information about use of Northeastern’s name and logo, visit the Marketing and Communications website.

You may be presented with or want to enter into a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement for a variety of reasons and situations. As a general rule, if you are acting in your capacity as a Northeastern employee, you should not sign such an agreement without first consulting the Office of the General Counsel. An NDA is a contract, and therefore it must be reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel and signed by an authorized University signatory. If the non-disclosure agreement involves research or potential cooperation with any party in the field of research, the Office of the General Counsel will consult with the Office of Research Administration and Finance.

Fill out an invention disclosure form at least two weeks before your publication date. If you have any questions regarding this form, please us.