Commercial Use of Course Materials
The Office of Legal Affairs has received numerous complaints in recent years from faculty members about illegal reproduction and distribution of their course materials. The University issues this statement to help faculty understand this issue and develop appropriate practices to protect themselves if they so chose.
Who Owns Copyright in Course Materials?
In accordance with the University of Maryland Policy on Intellectual Property (http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/iv320a.html), course instructors own the copyright in all course materials they create, including written lectures, power point presentations, study materials, and tests (Course Materials) and in the selection of readings and assignments for their courses. Course Materials are protected by copyright because they exist in a tangible medium; e.g., written, electronic, audio-visual, and are the original works of the faculty. Lectures are not protected by copyright, even if they are original, unless they are recorded or delivered from written notes. Keep in mind that while faculty members do not own copyright in the facts and ideas contained in their Course Materials, they do own copyright in the selection and their expression of those facts and ideas.
What Rights Does Copyright Give Faculty Members in Their Course Materials?
As the owner of copyright in Course Materials, faculty members hold the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, modify, make derivative works from, and post and display publicly their Materials. That means faculty members are the only persons who can exercise those rights unless someone has a right to claim their exercise of one of those rights is fair. There are several obvious examples of fair uses of Course Materials: faculty members would not accuse students taking notes in class of infringing their copyright in their lectures. Most faculty members would probably also not object to students giving a copy of class notes to a friend who missed class. And most faculty members grant students with certain types of disabilities the right to record lectures as a reasonable accommodation. Aside from those and other fair uses, persons who reproduce, distribute, post online or make derivative works based on Course Materials for any purpose other than their own personal use are guilty of infringing the copyrights of faculty.
What Steps May Faculty Members Take to Protect Their Copyright?
The University may not represent faculty members whose personal copyrights are being infringed. Faculty members must decide how to respond. Nonetheless, the University may provide faculty members with guidance on how to protect their copyrights in Course Materials.
1. Include a statement about copyright in your course syllabus. Faculty members should include a statement about copyright in their course syllabi. The statement should say that they hold copyright in the Course Materials and, as a result, students are not allowed to reproduce, distribute, or publicly post their Materials. To ensure their lectures are protected by copyright, faculty members should either record them or deliver them from notes. A suggested statement follows.
“My lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, tests, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use. You may not and may not allow others to reproduce or distribute lecture notes and course materials publicly whether or not a fee is charged without my express written consent. Similarly, you own copyright in any papers you write for this course and in your exam essays. If I am interested in posting your answers or papers on the course web site, I will ask for your written permission.”
2. Include a copyright notice on your course materials. Faculty members may want to include a copyright notice on course materials to emphasize the materials are protected. The form of the notice should contain the word copyright or the © symbol, the year the materials were created (multiple years may be listed when new material is added in different years) and the name of the faculty member. The instructor may want to add notations to the notice such as “All rights reserved” [or] “Authorization is given to students enrolled in the course to reproduce this material exclusively for their personal use.”
3. Advise students that selling or distributing your course materials may violate the Code of Student Conduct. The Office of Student Conduct in the Division of Student Affairs encourages faculty members to include the following additional statement on their course web site or syllabus: Persons who publicly distribute or display or help others publicly distribute or display copies or modified copies of an instructor’s course materials may be considered in violation of the University Code of Student Conduct, Part 9(k).
4. Respond to solicitations for commercial note takers. Some faculty members have reported that commercial note companies have used aggressive recruiting and selling tactics in their classes. Faculty who observe a person soliciting students in or outside a class to “take notes” for a company or trying to buy notes from students may (a) ask the person for identification to determine if h/s is enrolled in the class, (b) ask the person to leave or stop soliciting and (c) if the person refuses to leave or to stop soliciting, contact University Police at 405-3555 to have them remove the person or file a report with them. Faculty members may want to include this information on their course syllabus as well.
6. Post lecture notes on a course web site. Faculty who distribute hard copies of their lecture and course notes to students may consider posting them on a course web site on the theory that students will have no reason to support companies that are illegally distributing your materials.
Resources:
Office of Legal Affairs for general information about copyright (5-4945)
Project Nethics for information about copyright and online course materials (www.nethics.umd.edu)
Office of Student Conduct for information about reporting potential copyright infringing actions (http://studentconduct.umd.edu)
Campus Copyright: Rights and Responsibilities (2005), online publication of the Association of American Universities and others about copyright and copyright issues on university campuses (http://aau.edu/reports/Rights_and_Responsibilities_2005.pdf).
Model “cease and desist” letter to entity or person engaged in copyright infringement*
Name
Address
Re: Unauthorized Use of ----------------------------------------
Dear __________
I recently became aware that [insert name of company, person] is {selling or distributing publicly] [insert description of what is being copied and distributed; e.g., verbatim copies of power points I have created and use; copies of my lecture notes, a recording of my lectures] for [enter course name/title]. I am the instructor for that course and the author of [insert the description of the materials being infringed]. I am writing to direct you immediately to stop reproducing and distributing my [insert description of materials].
I am the sole owner of copyright in [description of materials]. As the sole owner of copyright, I hold the exclusive right to reproduce, modify, post, and distribute those materials and to grant others permission to exercise one or more of those rights. I have not authorized [insert name of entity receiving the letter] to reproduce, modify or distribute any of my materials in whole or in part and you have no lawful right to copy my materials, advertise the availability of my materials or distribute my materials whether or not you charge a fee or any other materials that include some or all of my materials.
I demand that you immediately: [select or draft applicable demands]
1. Remove all “notes” for [insert classes] from your list of available course materials.
2. Destroy copies of [description of materials] including any computer stored versions.
3. Notify all persons affiliated with [name of company] that I will order all persons who are not enrolled in a class I teach who attempt to solicit “note takers” to sell to [name of company] copies of my course notes, record my lectures, or otherwise acquire my copyrighted materials for a commercial use to leave the classroom and area outside the room and that I will contact campus police to remove them if they refuse to leave promptly and/or file a report with campus police.
Notify me in writing no later than ________________ that you have completed these tasks so I do not have to consider further action.
* The letter is a model that should be modified to suit the facts of a particular situation. It is not provided as legal advice in response to a specific situation.
