Reproduction of Intellectual Property & Copyright
DOWNLOAD: IB 2017/18:01
With the start of a new Academic Year upon us it is worth reminding Academic Staff Members (ASMs) that they have the right to prohibit the reproduction, dissemination and/or communication of their lectures. This is predicated on the fact that all lecture notes and slides, handout materials, examinations and assignments, and any material posted to D2L or similar, are the intellectual property of the ASM delivering the lecture, and may not be copied or distributed without permission. There is one exception – Clause 26.28 does allow a student with a disability to record lectures for personal use.
MUNFA encourages ASMs to incorporate the following statement in course syllabi and/or material delivered at the beginning of term or prior to each lecture:
The lectures and displays (and all material) delivered or provided in <course number: course title by ASM name>, including any visual or audio recording thereof, are subject to copyright owned by <ASM name>. It is prohibited to record, copy or share by any means, in any format, openly or surreptitiously, in whole or in part, in the absence of express written permission from <ASM name> any of the lectures or materials provided or published in any form during or from this course.
MUNFA acknowledges that it may be difficult to impose meaningful consequences for breach of this obligation, but still believe that the statement provides some protection even if only upon a moral or ethical basis. In addition, it has come to MUNFA’s attention that even crowdsourced online learning platform for students (e.g. Course Hero, and similar), will often remove content when possible copyright infringement is explicitly flagged.
If you have any questions, or if you experience unauthorized reproduction or recording of lectures or other course material, please contact the MUNFA Office (ext 8642, or munfa@mun.ca).