Copyright changes in Finland

According to Helsingin Sanomat (major newspaper) the proposal of copyright legislation concerning employer and employee, should be ready by spring. Until now the employer has got all rights to material produced at work, and includes everything from Powerpoints to any artform. That has been an issue for many teachers that I have personally been talking to. Another issue has risen concerning material that a teacher has produced in his or her leisure time, and whether that should also be owned by the employer.

The proposal contains following:

1. copyright belongs to the employee as always

2. the employer will gain rights to utilize and resell the material done by the employee

There are, as I’m concerned, two different scenarios; some teachers will immediately stop producing material that can be sold and utilized by the employer; and some teachers could actually renegotiate their contract in order to produce material within their work tasks. I think the latter is a really small minority, but the e-learning business might welcome this opportunity because there is a possibility to buy material directly from a university (as all becomes companies by the end of the year) instead of individual teachers.

When there aren’t any problems, we all live happily ever after, but when something occurs there are lot of questions: in what way can the employer keep track of what a teacher/employee has produced without breaking the integrity of that person? What happens if a teacher has produced and sold a book and the university demands royalties after the book has been published? What happens to a material when it is sold by the university, and the author renews and sells the new one-will the recent buyer accuse the author for copying?

One would hope that the employer, university, will support productive employers, and accept that those can cash in some pocket money. Or, deal with certain persons that they write, and figure out a contract that states that the teacher works partly as a writer and they split the income of that book/video lecture series/e-learning material.

Where would the university e-learning stratetgies end up if the most creative and eager persons would leave for private companies? Nothing right now, but in 10 years it is not a privilege to study at a university that is 100% on-campus….