A question of copyright

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xandreu
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A question of copyright

Post by xandreu »

I have a friend who works for a school. She was told before she took the job that she'd be expected to make her own materials such as worksheets, 4 quizzes per subject (3 subjects) per term, homework and anything else she felt was necessary - it's for a school that has just started and doesn't have a library of materials they can use other than standard text books.

Anyway she was aware of this before she agreed to take the job. She was also told that she would only be paid for her time actually teaching in the classroom. She would not be directly paid for making these quizzes and worksheets. Again, she was aware of this before she agreed to take the job.

She told me the other day that she's been told that the school are very happy with the worksheets etc that she produces and are keeping digital copies of them to be used next term and probably every term after that.

My question is, is this technically legal? Who owns the copyright to these materials? The school did not make it clear to her that they would be using her work on an ongoing basis, ie, every term.

I think she was stupid to have agreed to these conditions in the first place, but she insists that the time they pay for teaching is above average which should cover the time it takes her to produce the materials.

But do they have a right to use her work as and when they see fit without any financial compensation? I guess it boils down to who would technically own the copyright? Her as the creator or the school?

There's nothing in her contract which covers this.
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Brody
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by Brody »

xandreu wrote: Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:42 pm But do they have a right to use her work as and when they see fit without any financial compensation?
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explorer
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by explorer »

In Cambodia (and Asia) copyright is ignored. There are printers ignoring copyright, and printing copies of copyrighted books. I would let the school use them for future years. I suggest, if she ever gets a job at another school, she also take them with her and use them there.
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Anthony's Weiner
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by Anthony's Weiner »

In the USA the Copyright Act would give ownership to the copyright to the employer.

"The "author" of a work made for hire is the employer or hiring party for whom the work was prepared. This default ownership rule is known as the work made for hire rule. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise in a signed written document, the employer or hiring party owns the copyright of a work made for hire."

Incidentally, a girl (15) was just charged with copyright infringement here in Thailand for making Loy Kratong floats in the likeness of a copyrighted cartoon figure. She negotiated a 5000 baht settlement with the police only to find out that the copyright agent was a fake in cahoots with the cops. My wife paid a 30,000 baht settlement before we met when she used a copyrighted song on a youtube video. Copyright agents are about the same level of criminals as jet ski rentals here in the LOS.
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xandreu
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by xandreu »

Yes I'm aware that copyright isn't an issue in Asia. Look at how China doesn't respect international patents and intellectual property.

It was more of a hypothetical question, as in, in a country where copyright laws were observed, who would own the rights to material a teacher produces for her class.
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phuketrichard
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by phuketrichard »

xandreu wrote: Mon Nov 18, 2019 3:41 pm Yes I'm aware that copyright isn't an issue in Asia. Look at how China doesn't respect international patents and intellectual property.

It was more of a hypothetical question, as in, in a country where copyright laws were observed, who would own the rights to material a teacher produces for her class.
a fine line;
When i worked for a magazine as a photographer, i retained all copy writes for my photos, EVEN if they were shot while i was in their employment or on assignment, BUT they had the right to use them royalty free.
BUT i had built that into my employment contract when i started with them.

For a teacher if the lessons are part of ur paid job to produce, I would imagine they retain use of them, as for ownership.... but not really sure
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explorer
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Re: A question of copyright

Post by explorer »

xandreu wrote: Mon Nov 18, 2019 3:41 pm It was more of a hypothetical question, as in, in a country where copyright laws were observed, who would own the rights to material a teacher produces for her class.
In reality, a teacher would be very unlikely to win a legal case against the school if the school used them again, and a school would be very unlikely to win a legal case against the teacher if the teacher used them again.

Unless this turned into something that either the teacher of school made a lot of money from, it is not an issue.
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