Can schools own the copyright to teachers’ lectures?

During the teaching process, teachers often directly develop lectures based on their professional knowledge, pedagogical experience, and the school’s training requirements. However, when these lectures are used within the educational institution’s operations, especially in the employment relationship between the teacher and the school, the question arises: does the copyright to the lecture belong to the teacher or the school, and can the school be listed on the Copyright Certificate? This article by VCD will help you.

Are lectures subject to copyright protection?

According to the Intellectual Property Law, lectures are one of the types of works protected by copyright if they meet the legally stipulated conditions. Specifically, Clause 1, Article 14 of the 2005 Intellectual Property Law (as amended and supplemented) stipulates that scientific works, textbooks, lectures, and other works expressed in written form, symbols, images, sounds, or other means are subject to copyright protection.

Copyright for lectures only arises when the lecture is expressed in a certain physical form, such as printed lesson plans, electronic lecture slides, audio or video lectures, online lectures, or teaching materials stored on a digital system. Teaching ideas, methods of delivery, or purely knowledge content that has not been expressed in a concrete form are not considered works and are not subject to copyright protection.

Furthermore, copyright protection for lectures does not depend on whether or not they have been registered with the competent state authority. According to Article 6 of the Intellectual Property Law, copyright arises from the moment a work is created and expressed in a tangible form. Copyright registration only serves to establish initial evidence in case of disputes, and is not a condition for protection.

In practice, materials such as lesson plans, PowerPoint slides, student handouts, e-learning lectures, or video lectures created directly by teachers are considered works and are protected by copyright. However, the scope of protection only applies to the specific form of expression of the lecture, not to general knowledge content, widely disseminated data, or training programs based on standard frameworks issued by competent authorities.

Can schools own the copyright to teachers’ lectures?

Whether a school has the right to hold the copyright to a teacher’s lesson depends on the basis of establishing ownership of the lesson, specifically:

• If the teacher creates the lesson independently, not as part of an assigned task and without any other agreement, then the teacher is both the author and the copyright owner. In this case, the school does not have the right to be the copyright owner unless there is a legal transfer of rights.

• If the lesson is created as part of a task assigned by the school, or created within the framework of an employment contract, teaching contract, or a written agreement designating the school as the copyright owner, then the school has the right to be the copyright owner, while the teacher remains recognized as the author.

• If the teacher transfers the copyright ownership to the school, then after completing the legal transfer procedures, the school also has the right to be the copyright owner on the Copyright Registration Certificate.

Therefore, schools do not automatically have the right to hold the copyright to teachers’ lectures; they can only hold the copyright when there is a clear legal basis as stipulated by intellectual property law.

Legal risks if schools hold copyrights illegally

First, the copyright certificate may be revoked or amended.

According to the Intellectual Property Law, a copyright registration certificate is only valid when the information about the author and owner is recorded correctly as the rightful owner. If a school holds the copyright certificate while not being the legal owner, the competent authority may revoke, cancel, or request amendments to the certificate at the request of the interested party.

Second, liability for damages may arise.

If the unauthorized ownership of a teacher’s work affects their honor, reputation, professional rights, or the right to exploit the work, the school may be liable for damages under civil law and intellectual property law.

Thirdly, there are legal risks in the process of exploiting and using the work.

When the legal ownership status is not legitimate, any activity involving the use, digitization, licensing, transfer, or exploitation of the lesson plan carries the risk of disputes, leading to the suspension of the work’s use and directly affecting the school’s training activities and reputation.

The above is the article “Does a school have the right to own the copyright to a teacher’s lesson plan?” that VCD has sent to you. We hope this article is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

FAQ