Re: faculty coursework online

From: Art MacCord <amaccord[_at_]rcblaw.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 12:16:04 -0500

On Fri, Feb 25, 2000, Lyda Peters <lydap[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> I am co-chairing a faculty committee on intellectual property rights.
> The committee has been established in our institution because, for
> the first time, we are offering a small number of courses on-line to
> students. Faculty are concerned that if they agree to teach courses
> on-line, much of the innovation, research, and curriculum developed
> will become the property of the College. The college, on the other
> hand, asked for advice from their lawyers and were told that this
> work does belong to the college under "work-for-hire" copyright law.
>
> Needless to say this does not provide any incentive for faculty to
> teach on-line. Because of the college's newness in this arena, I
> would like to pose the following questions:
>
> How should I frame the discussion between faculty and the college so
> that we can move towards some type of consensus which supports the
> rights of faculty?
>
> Do professors have any rights by law to "intellectual property" once
> they start to teach online? If yes, what rights?
>
> Which websites would be of most help in developing a policy on
> intellectual property?

It seems to me that any copyrightable material that a college instructor prepares as part of his or her job is likely to be owned by his or her employer unless there is a contract provision providing otherwise. See 17 US Code 101 for the definition of a work made for hire.

If the teacher is not an employee, but a contractor, the rules are different. See the Supreme Court's opinion in Society for Creative Non-Violence v Reid.

For employees, traditional lecture notes, overhead transparencies, etc. are all owned by the employer. The fact that something is online does not change the legal situation. The only difference I can see is that the performance of the lecture, if recorded on tape or in some digital memory becomes a copyrightable work by such affixation in a tangible medium of expresssion. Non-recorded lectures, not being so fixed, would not be copyrightable.

If the profs want to own the copyrights, they need to negotiate with their employer to get the contract provision that that provides that result.

            Art MacCord
            Rhodes & Mason P.L.L.C.
            1600 First Union Tower
            Post Office Box 2974
            Greensboro, North Carolina  27402

            Email: amaccord[_at_]rhodesmason.com <mailto:amaccord[_at_]rcblaw.com>

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