copyright and course materials

I've been reading up on a case out of the University of Florida where Michael P. Moulton, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation, is part of a legal battle against Einstein’s Notes, a company that sells students study kits and lecture notes.

While his publisher, Faulkner Press, brought the suit, one of the more interesting issues to me what Moulton's claim of copyright on his lectures and that any notes taken by students is an infringement, but an allowable fair use infringement as long as the notes aren't sold. Moulton and Faulkner Press have a strong case for infringement when it comes to material from his published textbook that he uses in teaching. Mouton's claims that his printed lecture study guides are copyrighted absolutely has merit. But I have often heard that faculty cannot claim copyright on their teaching material -- lectures, syllabi -- because those are work-for-hire products that they create as part of their employment at a university, and that the university either holds copyright or at least holds an interest in the copyright. There's also the issue that, if not in a fixed form, like a written lecture, a lecture can be protected but not necessarily copyrighted. The University of Florida cleared his copyright registration, so this has obviously been vetted by their general counsel's office.

I once worked on a project where a dean forbade faculty from making syllabi on course sites publicly accessible because they were considered a work-for-hire. It seems that university policies have very much shifted in the years since I last worked with online course issues.

Site on the suit

Chronicle of Higher Ed Interview

Wired article

ars technica post