Board of Education to Teachers and Students: All Your Copyrights Are Belong To Us

[NifT]

Helen pointed me at this:  The board of education for Prince George County in Maryland is intending on implementing a policy whereby they will lay claim to any and all copyrights on any creative act by a student or teacher, in school or out.
Washington Post article here.
Wired article here.
Or just Google on "maryland school copyright grab" for dozens more articles.
Frankly, it's not going to work -- the basics of copyright law are designed to prevent someone from swooping in and stealing a copyright like this.  They may make it part of the employment contract for the teachers, in which their creative efforts for the classroom become "work for hire" like so many writers have done for decades.  But they cannot simply claim the children's copyrights -- they have to negotiate with each child's legal guardians and get a signed agreement ceding the copyright.  If they try this, they're going to end up in a lot of legal trouble.

Which just reinforces my already low opinion of the PG county school system.