This post<\/a> by Black Sheep really struck a cord with me. The gist of this rant is that the IP policies of universities basically rob students of what rightfully belongs to them (their ideas, or at the very least credit for their ideas) sucking creativity out of students for the institutions benefit without doing much to push a little creativity back.<\/p>\nIn other words, schools get to take both your money and your ideas, and in return given you a cheaply mounted piece of paper. That’s really a minor version of trading a handful of beads for Manhattan Island. How do they get away with this?<\/p>\n
The problem is not that you’re going to come up with the next killer product idea that is worth millions–because you won’t. The problem is fairness, intellectual honesty, justice and sleaze. <\/p>\n
When a professor takes one of your ideas, treats it as their own, gets a grant and some nice career boosting press for it, all without crediting you I think that’s unfair and dishonest. And I think the fact that institutions use obscure legal slight-of-hand to legally take advatage of unsuspecting and vulnerable students is both unjust and just plain sleazy. Hell even soulless corporations will put your name on thier patent if you contributed. Academia apparently berudges even this small token. That will be $50,000–thank you, come again!<\/p>\n
So for all you potential design school students out there here’s some advice: check your school’s intellectual property policy before you give them any money. <\/p>\n
And if you decide to attend d.school, here’s a suggestion: make friends with one or two professors (perhaps outside the design faculty) for both thier different perspectives and decent references. Otherwise do the absolute minimum amount of work for class–no one will ever check your grades. Save your best ideas for yourself and work on them on your own time, on your own computer, and off campus (if you use any school facilities, they own your idea). This way you get the piece of paper, and you keep the bastards from unjustly highjacking your creativity without giving you credit.<\/p>\n
Better yet, say to hell with school. Just take 2 years off of work, keep all the money you would have spent on tuition, put a downpayment on a house, and do a pile of pro bono and self-expressive work. You will learn and grow more as a designer, and you’ll have a nice place to live in rather than an doomed marriage to sallie mae. <\/p>\n
(Sorry about the recent tangents–I promise I’ll get back to design and innovation stuff now)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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