I have been working as a contractor on a software project for a local university. I started out as a consultant with no programming responsibilities as the project was unrelated to software or software development. The contract I initially signed contained the following IP-related text, "Any work product, creations, written works, or improvements to any XXXX inventions created or discovered during the term of this agreement shall be owned by XXXX and shall be treated as a ‘work for hire’ under this contract."
As time went by my job morphed into software development role, but my contract did not change. In the new role I designed, coded, and managed a new software program as an independent contractor. Now this program has the potential to be commercialized. The question I have is who owns this software? From my point of view and from the copyright law that I have read, it seems that the copyright should be mine: 1) the software does not fall into one of the nine excluded categories, 2) I have been the only software programmer on this project, and 3) I have not assigned the work to the University.
