Who Owns the Copyright for Teaching Materials and Tools Made by Teachers for Instructional Purposes?

Who Owns the Copyright for Teaching Materials and Tools Made by Teachers for Instructional Purposes?

With the opening of textbook editing to the private sector, school teachers not only use various versions of textbooks for teaching, but many enthusiastic teachers also create diverse teaching materials and tools, such as computer animations, FLASH interactive games, and teaching experiments, to help students better understand the content of their lessons. The Ministry of Education also provides project funding for schools to write or produce supplementary teaching materials and aids. When school teachers independently create these materials during their spare time, or participate in projects contracted by the Ministry of Education, who owns the copyright— the school, the teacher, or the Ministry of Education?

First, we need to determine whether the teaching materials and tools created by school teachers for instructional purposes fall under Article 11 of the Copyright Law, which refers to 'works completed in the course of employment.' Article 11 of the Copyright Law states: 'I. Works completed by employees in the course of employment are attributed to the employee as the author. However, if the contract stipulates that the employer is the author, the agreement shall prevail. II. If the employee is recognized as the author according to the preceding paragraph, the economic rights of the work shall belong to the employer. However, if the contract stipulates that the economic rights belong to the employee, the agreement shall prevail. III. The term "employee" as used in the preceding two paragraphs includes public officials.' The difference between teaching materials and tools and the teaching content from the previous question is that teaching materials and tools are not necessarily produced under a contractual obligation; teachers can simply use the textbooks selected by the school along with the accompanying materials and aids for instructional activities without needing to create them separately. Therefore, there is ambiguity about whether this constitutes a 'work completed in the course of employment.'

For teachers in general high schools and lower educational levels, due to the typically full course schedules, many teachers create supplementary teaching materials or tools out of a strong passion for their teaching work. They may use their spare time to engage in the production of these materials. As long as they can prove that their creation is not a 'work completed in the course of employment,' the copyright will still belong to the teacher. For example, if a teacher uses a holiday to take pictures of unique geological features in various parts of Taiwan, or if a teacher spends time outside of class writing a guide to Taiwan's historical monuments, these activities are related to instructional activities but do not automatically classify as 'works completed in the course of employment.' If a teacher uses their non-employment related works in the classroom, it should be viewed as a utilization of their own work, not automatically classified as 'works completed in the course of employment.'

However, it is undeniable that if a teacher is tasked by the school to create specific supplementary teaching materials or tools for the benefit of the school and its students, or if the school receives project funding from the Ministry of Education and assigns specific teachers to participate in the project, the employment relationship between the teacher and the school will render the supplementary materials or tools created under such assignments as 'works completed in the course of employment.' According to Article 11 of the Copyright Law, if there is no special agreement between the teacher and the school, the moral rights of the work belong to the teacher, while the economic rights belong to the school. If other schools or teachers wish to use such works, they must obtain permission from the school, not just from the teacher!

In summary, if a teacher independently utilizes their spare time to create supplementary materials or tools due to their interest in teaching, such works do not inherently qualify as 'works completed in the course of employment,' and the teacher retains full copyright. The teacher is free to publish or grant usage rights to others as they see fit. However, if a teacher's duties include creating certain teaching aids after a teaching research meeting, the teacher tasked with making those aids, despite their additional effort, will have created 'works completed in the course of employment' as defined by Article 11 of the Copyright Law. Unless there is a special agreement with the school, the moral rights belong to the teacher, while the economic rights belong to the school, and any need for others to utilize such works requires the school's consent, not just the teacher's!

• The content of this article is excerpted from The Ministry of Economic Affairs Intellectual Property Office Website
• Authors: Lai Wenzhi, Wang Wenjun