Re: Copyright Protection for Students

From: Bernard Katz <bkatz[_at_]uoguelph.ca>
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 22:13:37 -0400 (EDT)

On Tue, 13 May 1997 Tyler Ochoa <tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> wrote:
>
> On May 12, 1997, Angela M. Klueber <amzimm01[_at_]homer.louisville.edu> wrote:
> >
> > I apologize if this has been asked before. Please respond to me
> > privately if it has. I know someone who wrote something for a class
> > and got an A on it. The next semester, the professor included this
> > work in a course pack for his next class, without consulting the author
> > (his previous student). She found out about it by accident and was
> > upset that he used her work without asking permission. Does she have
> > any recourse or was that within his rights as the instructor the work
> > was turned in to? Thanks for your help.
>
> Under current case law, I would have to say that the professor has
> committed copyright infringement. The author of a work has a copyright
> upon the work's creation, without doing anything further (although a
> domestic author must register the work before bringing an infringement
> suit). There was no transfer of the copyright or a license given to the
> professor, and I would not construe an ordinary classroom situation as
> an implied license to use the work without permission. [The professor
> certainly doesn't qualify as an author under the work for hire
> provisions.]

....[snip]...

Tyler Ochoa's comment would also apply in Canada, except where the college or university, as a condition of admitting a student to a program of study required that the student grant the institution a royalty-free and nonexclusive  licence to use essays, exams and papers written for credit in a course in which they were registered, for educational purposes - including distribution to students in a class. Of course, the authorship must be stated, etc. Could it be that Angela Klueber's friend is attending an institution  that has such a policy?

Bernard Katz, Chair, Ontario Library Association Copyright Task Group

	  and Head, Special Collections and Library Development
	      University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

<bkatz[_at_]uoguelph.ca> Received on Thu May 15 1997 - 04:52:55 GMT