Survey applauds UNT's copyright ownership policy

UNT was cited for its exemplary copyright ownership policy regarding distance education in a recent survey on intellectual property law.

UNT received accolades from the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Maryland University College in Adelph. The center surveyed 79 institutions that heavily participate in distance learning; UNT was one of 12 schools lauded by the participating colleges for its outstanding policies.

The survey explored the current state of policy development and how copyright ownership rights in courseware and online course material are distributed between faculty members and institutions, says Neal Pomea, reference and instruction librarian for the University of Maryland University College.

"We were trying to find the best practices on this important issue of courseware ownership," Pomea says. "UNT uses a separate policy and shares ownership with faculty – we found that to be exemplary."

Phil Turner, associate vice president for academic affairs for distance education and dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences, and Richard Rafes, vice chancellor and general counsel for UNT, hammered out the current copyright ownership agreement, which was approved by the Board of Regents in February 2000. A separate copyright policy was necessary to address the unique situations that arise in the ownership and marketing of digital course materials, Turner says.

"Our goal in drafting this policy was to promote a partnership between the university and faculty. Many universities had policies that treated all courseware as works-for-hire, where the university owns all rights. We felt that a policy like that was not sustainable, so we decided to draft one that gives both the university and faculty the right to market the courses and share the royalties."

Under the UNT guidelines, a faculty member who creates digital course material is compensated if another faculty member uses that courseware. In addition, that faculty member is typically free to sell to outside institutions, and royalties are shared with UNT, if the university provided services as part of the development process.

But not all universities have made peace with their copyright policies. The survey found that most institutions were not very satisfied — the policies were either fairly recent or in the process of being drafted — and that the painstaking drafting process triggered the use of contracts in lieu of existing guidelines.

Pomea hopes the survey's findings serve as a breeding ground for better policies among universities, especially those heavily involved in distance education. An article detailing the results will be published in the April 2002 issue of Portal, a journal that presents research findings on issues in technology, publishing and periodicals.

"The purpose of the survey was not to draw any lines in the sand. We want to share what we found and hope it leads to discussion on good policy," Pomea says.

BY LISA WOODS paiswri2@unt.edu

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• UNT style manual is now available online
• Texas Apartment Association chooses UNT to launch new management program
• UNT faculty member to live Olympic dream
• Wanted: Your ideas for celebrations honoring UNT athletic accomplishments
• UNT to present film series with multicultural relations focus
• Pohl speaks about the status of 2002-03 raises
• Registration is going on now for the 2002 Equity and Diversity Conference

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