15.6: Copyright in Higher Education

Unique Position of Educational Institutions

The university is unique as both a creator and a consumer of copyright works. Most people are unaware of the many fees and licences that exist for the use of copyright works.

Issues relating to the use of copyright materials in teaching and learning are not new, in fact most materials have been used for so long we simply forget the underlying scheme that exists to pay the copyright fees. Many forms of copyrighted works—books, music, video, and sculpture are used in the modern university. These works are brought in for a range of purposes—for the entire student body, for specific faculties and schools, or for a specific course offering. Fees for the use of these materials are paid for by university departments, including the library, the faculties and schools, and by individual students. Table below demonstrates the matrix that describes this situation.

	Individual Student	University Department	Faculty or School
Books	Bookstore— assigned texts For a given class. Brought in by the bookstore and resold to students. Goal is cost recovery.	Library—the library selects titles appropriate for the entire student body.	Library—certain library purchases may be made at the request of a specific school. While these books are available to the entire student body, they are of primary interest to that one school
Journal subscriptions		Library—the library selects titles appropriate for the entire student body.	Library—certain library purchases may be made at the request of a specific school While these books are available to the entire student body, they are of primary interest to that one school
Photocopies	Purchased by individual students, at self serve copiers. Paid for via cost recovery (machines) and Access copyright licence. Also supplied by the university bookstore/ reprographics on cost recovery basis.		Distributed to students in class, cost borne by department. Covered by Access copyright licence
Digital Assets	Included on CD/companion website, Cost borne by the student

Exemptions and Their Impact

Fair use, fair dealing and other exemptions are defenses in court, nothing more. This means that even with a solid argument for fair use, the copyright owner is still able to sue the user. Often the initial press regarding the case represents the greatest cost to the right’s user, damaging their reputation and setting other rights holders’ guards up against them. Add to this the cost of mounting a defense against such claims of infringement, and it is easy to see why most claims of copyright infringement are dealt with quickly and quietly.

Student Right

Often students are unaware of their rights. They produce essays and term papers for submission to their instructors and then forget about them. The question of copyright is never considered. Most teachers know that examples of past work, both good and bad, can be an excellent aid to the learning process for current students. Presenting past student work is only legal if permission has been secured. This is easily done with a simple submission form where the submitting student can tick off what rights they are willing to grant the instructor or the school.