Faculty develop intellectual property needed for online courses while employed by an academic institution. That institution has a claim on the copyright because the instructional materials developed by the faculty members could be seen as "works for hire." On the other hand, both tradition and case law have seen faculty as the copyright possessors of any instructional materials they develop. The interests of both the administration and faculty may be best served with a negotiated agreement that gives the institution ownership rights while allowing use and distribution rights to remain with the authoring faculty.