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Question 3

So far you have considered copyright in material selected from external sources. However, what about the lecturer’s own work? Who owns copyright in the recording of the lecture to be placed onto the VLE and accompanying lecture materials?

1:  The lecturer. As well as selecting the external content he authored all the wrap-around teaching materials. He also instructed the recording engineer, so there was no real input from the engineer.

Incorrect answer

s.11(1)of the Act states that the author of a work is the first owner of copyright in it. The lecturer therefore is prima facie owner. However, s.11(2) of the Act states that the employer is owner of copyright in work created in the course of employment. The question is whether the work created and authored by the lecturer is in the course of employment. When dealing with employer/employment issues with regard to copyright it may be worth checking with your HR (Personnel) Department (or your line manager in first instance) if there is any doubt or you are new to your job.

2:  The recording engineer. He ‘fixed’ all of the content, so he must own the rights in the recording, but probably not the content.

Incorrect answer.

s.11(1) of the Act states that the author of a work is the first owner of copyright in it. The author of a copyright in a sound recording is the ‘producer’, s.9 2(a) of the Act (which is the person who make the financial arrangements for the recording). In the normal commercial context of producing a sound recording this person will usually by the person who has, for example, engaged or hired the equipment, studio, record producer, engineer and any other personnel. In many cases this will be the record company but clearly many permutations are possible. However, s.11(2) of the Act states that the employer is owner of copyright in work created in the course of employment. The question is whether the recording was made in the course of employment. When dealing with employer/employment issues with regard to copyright it may be worth checking with your HR (Personnel) Department (or your line manager in first instance) if there is any doubt or you are new to your job.

3:  The institution (Employer).

Correct answer. Both the lecture and the recording were undertaken (in this instance) as activities performed in the course of employment and as such, as per s.11(2) of the Act, the employer would own the copyright in the works created. When dealing with employer/employment issues with regard to copyright, it may be worth checking with your HR (Personnel) Department or your line manager (in first instance) if you are in any doubt or new to your job. See also Who owns copyright in a work?.

Note : If you have not read any of the other answer(s), it would be a good idea(recommended) to do so when you have more time as the other answers provide more information and will help build up or extend your overall copyright knowledge.

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Correct Answer

The correct answer is the institution (Employer). Both the lecture and the recording were undertaken (in this instance) as activities performed in the course of employment and as such, as per s.11(2) of the Act, the employer would own the copyright in the works created. When dealing with employer/employment issues with regard to copyright, it may be worth checking with your HR (Personnel) Department or your line manager (in first instance) if you are in any doubt or new to your job. See also Who owns copyright in a work?.

Note : If you have not read any of the other answer(s), it would be a good idea(recommended) to do so when you have more time as the other answers provide more information and will help build up or extend your overall copyright knowledge.

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