Legal Issues in the “E-Learning Business” Jonathan Alger University of Michigan October 29, 2001 Copyright Jonathan Alger This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission of the author.

2 Contract Issues Exclusivity Identity of Business Partners Intermingling of Intellectual Property Use of University Name and Marks

3 More Contract Issues Editing of Content Responsibility for Copyright Clearance Handling of Technical Problems and Risk Management

4 Ownership and Control of Online Course Materials and Courseware Work-for-hire doctrine Academic tradition and academic freedom New policy approaches (AAU, ACE, AAUP, many institutions) -- e.g., use of “substantial” or “unusual” university resources Need for written agreements -- unbundling the rights in copyright

5 Rights that Faculty Care About Ability to edit and control presentation of their work Ability to change and update materials over time Ability to create derivative or related works Professional recognition and credit Right to take materials they create when they leave for another institution Right to participate in commercialization (decisions and royalties)

6 Rights Institutions Care About Use of works for educational and administrative purposes Timely revision and maintenance of electronic course materials for continued use Cost recovery Control of use of university’s name, seal, or marks

7 Use of Copyrightable Works Protections for classroom teaching in traditional settings don’t apply “TEACH” Act would extend protection to use of many materials in distance-education settings

8 Other Employment Issues Academic governance and decision-making re curriculum Workload (e.g., required faculty-student interaction)

9 Accessibility Don’t forget about accessibility of distance- education programs and web pages for faculty and students with disabilities

10 Concluding Thoughts Internet and new technology are means to educational ends, not ends in themselves Some experiments will fail, and that is part of the learning process -- we may learn valuable lessons as byproducts of experimentation