Who does your homework belong to once you turn it in?

It should still belong to you, and it shouldn’t be a problem to get it back, but not something that’s likely to be a legal issue.

As I understand copyright, whatever intellectual property you produce is copyrighted as soon as it leaves your pen. You may then formalize it if you wish.

just put (c)2009 at the end

well if it has your name on it, shouldn’t it always be yours?

Absolutely @DrBill. You mark it with a little copyright and you’re covered.
If it’s something very valuable, keep your own coy of it, just to be safe. Teacher can misplace things too…

Satan

If you’ve been dead for three hundred years, and someone decided to put the constitution on the back of it, I think it would be fair to say that it’s no longer yours.

The only exception I know is that several art schools state in their admissions policy that any artwork that you do as a student as an assignment belongs to the school. I believe this is how they fund their scholarship program. The students get a transparency of their work for their portfolio, but the actual piece belongs to the school.

@PandoraBoxx That makes me want to burn down some school.

When they give you a 75% scholarship, that’s hard to say no to.

@PandoraBoxx Ah yeah, misunderstood. Still, wouldn’t mind burning down a school or two.

Any original writings that you produce, whether for homework or other use, unless there is a contract (like most internet sites have) that say they own your work, you own the rights to it.

Be sure you keep your own copy of the work, so you don’t have to ‘ask for it back’.

At my university, I know for sure that any writings in science lab books are always legally the property of the students, just in case somebody cures cancer in a biology lab.
As for any other work, I wold assume the same, unless otherwise stated, but the science lab books are the only example that I know for sure.

thanks everybody!

You may not be entitled to getting your physical paper back, but your words, or any other intellectual property on the paper that you created, belong to you.

@PandoraBoxx I’ve never heard of a school owning work produced by students, even under a scholarship, but I know it’s standard practice of most art schools to make you give them the rights to display and/or publish your works. They can show it off, but they can’t sell it without your express permission.

Of course, just because I never ran into the ownership conflict myself doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I could easily be wrong.