Instructional Design Copyright Law and Instructional Media

This paper discusses concerns and issues relating to Instructional Design and Copyright Law.

Write a brief synopsis of your research into one aspect of copyright law that has implications for instructional
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Synopsis on Copyrights and Instructional Media

Curtis M Carlson
Instructional Media / ED7503
Dr. Robert Elmore PhD.
February 19, 2008

Though professor’s notes, class syllabus and transcripts from lectures are seen to hold very little value in the realm of book publishing, though it is not beyond reason that some might especially if the lecturer is famous or the publisher is shrewd, as is discussed in “The Gold Mine Scenario” in the article “Who Owns Online Courses and Course Materials? Intellectual Property Policies for a New Learning Environment.” (Twigg, 2000) The matter is different when the institution is successfully marketing online courses with said materials or when such materials are incorporated into what becomes a commercial success. There is also a difference when the institution becomes a marketer of pre-packaged instructional materials or incorporates that material into text books or other such instructional materials for corporate employee or the consumer market. (Twigg, 2000) The areas in which individuals who are responsible for the editing of media and materials of instruction must take into consideration intellectual property concerns such as instructional design, academic editing, plagiarism, copyright, ownerships, author, academics, and administrative relations. (Swales, 2000)

Carol Twigg suggests that there are many areas or ‘hurdles’ that are in need of addressing when it comes to copyright laws as they pertain to instructional materials. One main issue is the one law or more accurately copyright and the creative works which are “fixed for more than transitory duration in a tangible medium of expression.” (Twigg, 2000) Copyright protection is applied to, “literary works, including computer software; audiovisual works; musical works; sound recordings; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; choreography or pantomime; and architectural works. Copyright exists the moment the work is fixed. Registration of the work is not required but is advantageous to the author if enforcement becomes necessary.” (Twigg, 2000) In the case of ‘works for hire’ the employer that contracts or commissions the work, then in that case the employer then holds the copyright. This ‘work for hire’ clause tends to carry over to or appear to apply to university educators. Though several court opinions state that these educators are not “employees for the purposes of the works-for-hire-doctrine” (Twigg, 2000), and pertains to owner’s rights, subject matter of copyright, the requirements of under what circumstances to apply copyright, the course of action and remedies to be taken in the instance of copyright infringement, ‘fair use guidelines,’ and the guidelines to be put in place when copying classroom activities. (Lan, 1999)

Swales suggests that in approaching responsibly these intellectual property concerns educators and institutions must: 1) make sure that the manuscripts and materials involve conform to the course guidelines; 2) that all resources linked are active and that materials meet the requirements and policies of the institution; 3) edit the materials in such a way that the learner is taken into consideration; 4) keeping the material student minded without sex or race or other bias; 5) are free from plagiarism; 6) that the authors are aware of the editing process and acts as a go between the educator, administration and the academics, (Swales, 2000) as well as maintaining all quality assurance standards. (Kindey, 2007) Also, the editing process must take into consideration all accessibility issues as pertains to the ADA. (Boone, 2003)

Though much of what the educator produces especially when it pertains to instructional media can and will be desired to be shared in other educational and non-educational contexts, though as is suggested some materials should not be openly shared. For those materials, such as those in which a profit stream is available or probable, copyright considerations need to be approached. Creative Commons, a Massachusetts-chartered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable corporation has attempted to form a means by which materials can be shared and used in a variety of ways and with a variety of caveats, so as to address the needs of intellectual property owners who may intend for curricular materials to be shared or used but perhaps not sold and who expect recognition for the contribution that they have given to the creation of that material. The Creative Commons provides a quick and easy way to declare the level of copyright that one may wish to apply to their creative work. The creative commons licensing ranges from “all rights reserved” to “no rights reserved” which means the material exists in the public domain for anyone to use. (Creative Commons, 2008) Of course employing the creative commons license is no guarantee that an educator’s work will not be plagiarized nor will it help in negotiating who owns educational materials; the institution or the educator. These differentiations will have to be settled in court.

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