Intellectual property

A. Ownership of copyright

1. WU shall own copyright on materials created by staff when it is done as part of employment activities for which the staff member was directed by WU and paid as an employee.
2. If a staff member is the author of academic materials, he/she retains the moral right to be named as its author, even if WU owns copyright.
3. Staff members shall own all other intellectual property they create in their own time and not using WU resources or materials, even when it relates to their area of academic interest.
4. Examples of the above:
• Example 1
• WU asks Brad to write a textbook as part of his role as an instructor. Time is allocated in his list of duties as an employee. WU fully owns copyright on it.
• Example 2
• Brad writes a textbook in his spare time. Even though he discussed the idea with his supervisor, no time is allocated in his list of duties as an employee. Brad fully owns copyright on it.
• Example 3
• WU gets external funding for Brad to write a textbook. WU then asks Brad to write it and allocates time in his list of duties as an employee, and pays Brad from the grant. WU fully owns copyright on it.
5. Students shall own any intellectual property they create, unless they specifically agree otherwise in writing.
6. Staff may not require a student to surrender their intellectual property unless the student is paid as an employee to generate it under the same terms as staff members.
7. When staff and students produce intellectual property jointly, they shall share jointly both ownership and the moral rights.
8. Staff and students who plagiarize or infringe intellectual property in any manner shall be referred to the President for discipline.
9. When staff and students substantially reproduce ideas from some other source, even if they do not infringe copyright, they must give credit to the source.
• Example
• Jade used the basic idea from another article as the basis for her own essay. She is required to reference the other author.
10. Recordings of instruction given in the course of WU educational or other activities (including but not limited to video, audio) shall remain the property of those who generated them, but WU will gain unrestricted and free license to use it for their internal purposes.
• Example
• Brad makes a video recording of himself teaching at WU. Brad owns the intellectual property on the recording, but WU has the right to use it for other teaching within WU. However, WU can’t sell it or hire it outside WU.
11. When anybody creates a new version of a copyrighted work, the original owner of the copyright retains ownership.
• Example
• WU owns the copyright of textbook PQR. WU asks Emma to review and edit the textbook. WU retains full ownership of copyright on the textbook.

B. License

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that WU can still use material even if its creator leaves WU.

1. This policy applies to faculty and staff members who produce material specifically for WU courses and who own copyright on it.
2. When a faculty/staff member produce materials for a WU course:
1. The faculty/staff member automatically licenses WU to use those materials for the program for which it was written, including any subsequent replacement programs.
2. The license shall entitle WU to continue to use, modify, and reproduce those materials without royalty or payment of any kind whatsoever for use with its own students.
3. This is a condition of employment, whether the faculty/staff member is paid or voluntary.
4. The ownership of copyright is a separate matter and will follow the regulations above.
3. If the materials are written as commercial publications for sale to students, the provision of materials shall continue under the same terms.
• Example
• Jeff is a volunteer course writer, and writes a textbook to be used in a WU unit. Jeff owns copyright because he was not paid, but WU automatically has a license as defined above. During the year, Jeff disagrees with his supervisor and resigns. WU is entitled to continue using the textbook, even though Jeff still owns copyright on it. At the end of the year, the faculty made changes to improve the textbook and will continue using it.