Ownership rights to distance education courseworks: An analysis of legal principles and institutional policies in postsecondary education

Modern technology has changed the manner in which educational courses are delivered in postsecondary education. Currently, many courses are presented through an electronic medium, often referred to as “distance education.” The emergence of distance education, however, raises several legal issues regarding intellectual property. Of particular interest and debate is the ownership of distance education courseworks. Currently, there are several references on intellectual property ownership, however, little is known specifically regarding the ownership rights to distance education courseworks and how university intellectual property policies affect these rights. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to provide a comprehensive legal analysis of the ownership rights to distance education courseworks under current copyright law and through the use of intellectual property policies. The research of this dissertation consisted primarily of an analysis of current copyright principles as they relate directly to postsecondary education. These principles were then applied to a spectrum of institutional intellectual property policies to determine how universities may internally modify or assign ownership rights to distance education courseworks. The significance of this dissertation is that it: (1) improves the current literature base on intellectual property ownership rights in postsecondary education, (2) indexes the continuum of ownership outcomes of distance education courseworks found within institutional intellectual property policies, and (3) provides a reference for university administrators and faculty members engaged in the negotiation of the assignment or modification of intellectual property rights. The results of this dissertation indicate that there is no definitive ownership rule for distance education courseworks. Under current copyright law, ownership rights are speculative at best. Despite this uncertainty, however, universities may nonetheless dictate, modify, or even assign ownership of distance education courseworks directly to the institution, faculty, or other persons, via a well-crafted institutional policy or contract