Intellectual Property in the Digital Age
The underlying question that is discussed within this article is who owns the information that instructors create for online courses. Do the instructors own the information presented and submitted in online courses or does the institution own it? It is noted that in most cases teachers do not legally own the information created while employed by their school, it is owned by the institution. This is due to the fact that the faculty member has been “hired” to do this job.
Kennedy outlines four major concerns that educators should discuss with employers. These concerns are revenue sharing, portability, adapting or updating course materials, and attribution rights. With revenue sharing, will the instructor receive an money if the information is sold or licensed or will the school receive all of it? Portability brings into question whether or not the teacher can take the information they have created with them if or when they leave to go onto another school. Who is responsible for updating/adapting course content – is it the school or the educator? This is what is questioned in the third point. Finally, will the teacher have their name attached to the information they created or will it just be the school’s information?
It is suggested that K-12 faculty need to look at higher education to see how this turns out. In some cases, they are seeing the faculty being free agents and negotiating separate deals for each instructor at some schools. Either way, the entire concept of who owns what a teacher creates, may create even more questions.
Kennedy, K (2001, September 15). Intellectual Property in the digital age. Retrieved October 3, 2008, from techLEARNING Web site: http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/200109/newsextra.php