Hi, folks . . .
The issue is "work made for hire." For information, see
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ9.html .
The quoted policy is consistent with copyright law. Quoting in part from
the Copyright Office circular:
>
>Introduction
>
>
>
>Under the 1976 Copyright Act as amended (title 17 of the United States
>Code), a work is protected by copyright from the time it is created in a
>fixed form. In other words, when a work is written down or otherwise set
>into tangible form, the copyright immediately becomes the property of the
>author who created it. Only the author or those deriving their rights from
>the author can rightfully claim copyright.
>
>Although the general rule is that the person who creates a work is the
>author of that work, there is an exception to that" principle: the
>copyright law defines a category of works called "works made for hire." If
>a work is "made for hire," the employer, and not the employee, is
>considered the author. The employer may be a firm, an organization, or an
>individual.
>
>To understand the complex concept of a work made for hire, it is necessary
>to refer not only to the statutory definition but also to its
>interpretation in cases decided by courts.
>
>
>
>
>Statutory Definition
>
>
>
>Section 101 of the copyright law defines a "work made for hire" as:
>
>(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her
>employment; . . .
To seek to change the policy Ms. Speranza cited would be to seek to have
the district adopt a policy that is not in accordance with copyright law
and standard practice. I responded directly to Ms. Speranza, but this point
may be of general enough interest to be worth posting to the list.
>Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:47:06 -0500
>From: Susan Speranza <castleriggpekes@GMAIL.COM>
>Subject: QUESTION: Policies on Teachers'/Librarians' Intellectual Property
>
> Hello All:
>Our school board, who we have been constantly at odds with for many years,
>is reviewing our policies and procedures. One of the things they insist on
>is owning works created by employees (like lesson plans, or books teachers
>may be writing?). Anyway, here is how they phrase it (below).
>
>What I'd like to know is what do your policies say about this matter (if
>anything)? It is my opinion that we as a staff should fight this.
Regards,
Ken
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Umbach
Columnist, Knowledge Quest
Policy Analyst, California Research Bureau, California State Library
Writer, editor, researcher, consultant, www.umbachconsulting.com
ken@umbachconsulting.com
916-733-2159 -- voice mail
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