The courseware will be jointly owned by each contributor of copyrightable expression if, at the time their work is created, all of them expect their contributions to be merged into a unified whole and intend to be joint owners. This means that the faculty member, the University (as owner of the media center contribution), the graduate student programmer and the brother-in-law all could be joint owners of the courseware materials if they all intend that result.

The copyright law addresses ownership in Section 201(a) initial ownership, and Section 101's definition of a joint work. Numerous court cases further refine the practical meaning of these sections. Please see "Copyright Law in Cyberspace" for more detailed information about ownership.