If the university relinquishes ownership but claims a license to reuse the teaching materials, does this continue beyond the life of the employment contract?

Many of these claim that "the answer to who owns the [intellectual] property depends on the condition in which it was produced" (Rhoades 1998). Loggie et al. (2006) suggests that those conditions might include whether the teaching materials were commissioned, whether the authors were compensated, and whether there was significant use of university resources in their creation. Monotti and Rickeston (2003) drew similar conclusions, with the addition that "the classification of the originator" and "the material in respect of which such claims were advanced" were also factors.

Academic employees rarely remain at one institution for the whole of their careers. Questions are therefore raised as to what happens to the teaching materials when the author is no longer at the university.

Fewer universities (77%) claim ownership of internal teaching materials than e-learning materials (84%). Only 20% address performance rights, 46% address rights of non-employees, and 44% address rights on termination of contract.