Volume 9 Issue 1

Educational ownership and use: an opportunity to rethink copyright

Leanne Wiseman*

As university resources have expanded to include computer programs and multimedia works, universities are re-thinking their approach to copyright. In the copyright ‘debate’ universities tend to argue that copyright stands in opposition to one of the core aims of the university – the freedom of exchange of information and ideas. However, copyright does not have to be a barrier to the pursuit of knowledge and higher learning in universities. Copyright may serve a range of interests, so long as a balance is struck between the rights of academics to retain control over their copyright works and the sharing of knowledge that is central to the success of universities. Copyright should not inhibit productive work.

The author suggests a number of ways in which universities and academics may be able to regain control of copyright: academics retain ownership of copyright; universities claim ownership of copyright in works produced in the university; and shared ownership (between universities and academics) of copyright.