My girlfriend is taking classes at a community college for design and animation. They're creating a character over the course of the class t...

Question

My girlfriend is taking classes at a community college for design and animation. They're creating a character over the course of the class that will be sculpted, drawn, have stories written about them, etc...

She is buying 90% of the materials used to create it after having already paid for the class, but the instructor apparently told her that their work becomes property of the school when they are done with it. I understand they want something to demo to prospective students and others, but is that legal for them to take something she designed, created, and paid for? Should she tell them she's taking it with her when she's done, and if they say no, should she seek legal action?

Answer

This depends on what the policies of the school are and what agreements she signed. It may seem that this is unfair but if the agreement in her enrollment was that anything created would be the property of the school, she is out of luck. She needs to consult with an intellectual property attorney