Students for Intellectual Property Colorado 2016 Legislative Announcement
For nearly 2 years students all over the United States have been working within their respective networks to advocate for student innovators and entrepreneurs. Currently in Colorado students from different backgrounds have stopped innovating and in some cases have dropped out of school to pursue their ideas. One of the main reasons for this is university intellectual property policies that often treat students the same as faculty and staff. It is for these reasons that the public, students, and alumni stand up and say enough is enough and back the student innovators of today who will be the change makers of tomorrow.
To solve this problem we have drafted legislation that would allocate 75% ownership of all student intellectual property to the student as long as the student intellectual property meets set guidelines. This is the opposition to intuitions like the University of Colorado system which retains 75% ownership and royalty share of what students create on campus as long as the university can prove that $5000 of university resources were used. However, the ambiguity of the term “resources” allows the university to pick and choose what it wants to claim. In addition, many universities within the State of Colorado do not even have intellectual property policies in place which puts students in a very ambiguous spot. Our policy would ensure that within the State of Colorado, all students are treated the same no matter their major, background, finances, or stature in the university.
At this time, Students for Intellectual Property has solidified multiple sponsors and co-sponsors within the State of Colorado legislature in support of this bill. With the passage of this bill we will ensure that students all over the State of Colorado know that they will be protected as an innovator. However, the fight to pass this bill is only beginning.
Many of the universities in Colorado say that they provide the environment to be an innovator and that students own their creations and that there is no legal issues within the State of Colorado. In the next breath they have come out, threatened us, and told us that we would be destroyed. The universities, these behemoths, with their lawyers, lobbyists, and deep pockets are threatening the very students they intend to teach and mold. We are students asking for fairness from the schools that we pay to attend. How in world do students make the universities see that their policies are unfair?
Yet, the universities within the state of Colorado have billions of dollars at their disposal and that results in students going up against the big money. We tried to talk with the universities and work this out for mutual benefit but they were unwilling to see any side but their own. We are fighting an uphill battle and we need all the help we can get. We are so close to making sure that we protect innovators within the State of Colorado. Join us by donating to the campaign, volunteering, or spreading the word. Contact our President Caleb Carr at 503-422-3922 to hear the story first hand from a student innovator who created a start-up and was told that he would lose 75% equity of his company just for being a student. It’s time that we, the State of Colorado, stand behind and empower the innovators of today because they will be the change makers of tomorrow.