Professor Weetman was employed by Newcastle University in 2007 on a short-term basis and claims that whilst there he redesigned a BSc module in biomedical sciences. Given the time and skill that he dedicated to this work, he believed he should retain copyright of his teaching materials (including PowerPoint slides).

In an email sent to the course supervisor at the time his contract was being negotiated, Professor Weetman stated that he would be unhappy if his slides were used by someone else in the future and that he wished to retain copyright over his materials. He believed that this email served as sufficient contrary agreement to supersede the general rule laid down in section 11(2) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 that employers own the copyright in works produced by employees in the course of their employment.

Whilst this email was acknowledged by Newcastle University, no formal agreement was reached between the parties in respect of ownership of the intellectual property. As a result, the request contained in Professor Weetmans email did not form part of his contract of employment and the University retained copyright on all teaching materials, as was its standard policy.

Professor Weetman asserted that the presentations used by his successor included many of his original slides (complete with his typos). For a breach of copyright to have taken place, the law requires there to have been substantial copying of work that is protected by copyright, 'substantial' being considered on a quantitative rather than qualitative basis. The University acknowledged that although a number of the slides were similar, the majority of Professor Weetman's work had not been included. In any event this is an academic distinction given that the University will be regarded as the first owner of copyright in the work.

Often employers expect to own the intellectual property in employees' work. The law supports this but to be sure of their position employers will often include a wide clause in employment contracts to 'catch' any intellectual property created by the employee while he is employed. It is at this early stage that an agreement should be reached between the parties in respect of any alternative approach, particularly in an environment where colleagues frequently 'draw on' one another's work. As Professor Weetman has learned a hard lesson perhaps his experience will act as a lesson to others, reminding them to ask the crucial question - "can I have that in writing?".

22 July 2010

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