On Mon, 24 Jan 1994, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> (1) A teacher prepares a book on some curriculum materials he has
> developed. He wants to include examples of work done by some of his
> students. What are the rights issues?
You have issues of copyright, educational records, and right of privacy, at least. These issues ought to be taken up with the students and their legal guardians. Unless the work is a joint work (teacher and student collaborated), a student owns his or her copyright but may not be able to enter into contracts (help me, someone) to grant rights. Also may need to have clearance from the school to confirm proper release of educational records. The timing of the request to use materials may also be of some concern, since a student might feel pressure to release materials in order to get good grades or stay on a teacher's good side. Also may need agreement to allow use of name/attribution or to prevent release of names. Depending on the content, there may also be issues of libel and right of publicity (if a celebrity's name or likeness is involved). The publisher will likely require the teacher to obtain all necessary permissions and to indemnify the publisher against future claims. Takes your breath away. I wish there were a "Nike exception" for teachers ("Just do it").
> (2) A teacher gives a seminar about some teaching technique,
> curriculum area, or whatever. Again, he wants to include examples of
> student work, either as transparencies or in the handouts. What are the
> rights issues?
Same as before, except more reason to suggest fair use under copyright, especially if the student work is collected again after the seminar (and therefore not published (again, dis/confirm this, someone!)). This does nothing as far as I can tell for release of educational records, however. Perhaps someone knows of teaching exceptions to the various laws governing educational records. It's clear this kind of exchange of teachers must go on and does so with few formalities. Similarly, someone could be invited to observe the class in action, or to watch a video of the class, and I expect in the great majority of such cases the issue of releases and permissions is not even raised, and in general this is the way I think it should be.
> (3) A class does some sort of project -- perhaps writing some
> instructional software -- that the school identifies as a marketable
> product. What are the rights issues?
The class as a group can own a copyright, so long as the members of the group are clearly defined. The teacher can be a member of this group, as well, if he or she contributes to the expression, and hence be a joint owner of copyright. The teacher could then act independently of the group (for copyright purposes only) but would have an obligation to account for profits to the rest of the group (absent an agreement to the contrary). The school, too, could have an ownership interest in the copyright if the appropriate agreements were properly transacted with the teacher for his/her share. Many other issues of a marketable product leap into the picture--choice of name/trademark screening for product (if distributed directly), product liability (if manufactured by the class or school), association with the school (use of school name, resources), clearance of third party rights (did anyone copy pre-existing materials?). All of this could be a great real world learning experience for those involved. Get an attorney to donate some time to help out.
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