Copyright Discussions at JCMA

There is a conflict between the Collective Agreement and information available on the website for the Vice-President Research regarding copyright ownership of works created by faculty.

The Intellectual Property Policies (Section 2.2 Copyright Policy – Works Created at the University of Saskatchewan) suggests faculty members do not retain copyright in any work they create through the course of assigned duties, stating “Faculty members retain copyright in most works created in the course of employment (other than works created through performance of assigned duties – these rights belong to the University) … ”

This conflicts with the Collective Agreement. Article 26 states that, with very limited exceptions, copyright of works created by faculty in the course of their assigned duties is owned solely by faculty, including lectures, printed works, artistic works, and computer programs.

The Association brought this to the attention of the Employer through the Joint Committee for the Management of the Agreement. The Employer is working to have the information corrected.

If you are experiencing problems regarding copyright of materials produced as part of assigned duties, we suggest you contact USFA at usfa@usaskfaculty.ca for clarification.