Once a course is online, who owns it? Frequently, the person who develops course content is not the person who teaches the course. Not surprisingly, intellectual property has become a fundamental concern for faculty.
One viewpoint is that when digital materials are created as part of the regular process of teaching, the institution has at least an investment if not outright ownership. A dissenting viewpoint is that faculty are entitled to control of the copyright in order to safeguard their legal rights, academic freedom, and the quality of their courses.
Join us as we weigh these arguments, addressing key issues such as:
- Are full-time faculty jobs truly in jeopardy?
- How do issues of copyright and "work for hire" apply to the creation and distribution of online courses?
- How much control will faculty have over content of both the courses they create and those they are assigned to teach?
- Is there a middle ground on which faculty rights, pedagogy, and the need to cut costs and increase efficiency can all be honored?
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Panelists
Georgia K. Harper is the manager of the Intellectual Property Section of the Office of General Counsel for the University of Texas System. She specializes in copyright law. Her online publication, "The Copyright Crash Course," provides guidance to University faculty, students and staff concerning a wide range of copyright issues and is freely accessible to all universities and colleges. She is a member of the Copyright Advisory Group to the Association of American Universities, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, and the American Council on Education.
Kenneth Sal0mon is a member of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, PLLC where he specializes in government relations and issues involving distributed learning. Mr. Salomon represents colleges and universities, and works closely with a variety of national higher education organizations on legal, regulatory, financial and policy issues involved in telecommunications, distance learning, copyright and computers. He is the author of numerous publications, including "Copyright Considerations in Distance Learning" and "Technology-Mediated Instruction," American Association of Community Colleges. He is also a frequent presenter at conferences throughout the country.