Who has intellectual rights over school work ?

[hard2miss 10]

If a child draws a picture at school who actually owns it ?

 

As its a creative piece of work that the individual has done then how much ownership can the school claim over it ?

 

A picture is created and not something that is taught so can the school claim ownership of such a thing and sell it for proffit ?

 

I will explian why I ask but would like to see if anyone has an answer first.

[thestars 10]

I would have thought it belonged to the child who did it . The school can't use it without permission.

 

thestars

[BillyWhiz 10]

At first glance I would say that both intellectual and copyright belong to the 'child' as children often bring home art they have created in school.

 

if a school decides that a piece of art is good enough to use in say a Christmas card they intend to publish for sale, then surely the right course of action would be to ask permission of the parents/guardians of said child and negotiate from there.

 

If however, the school decides that they own the 'rights' to a piece of art that has been created by a child then they will have to prove their case which I think they would lose because the child is not an employee that is employed to do the work and as we, as parents, employ the 'school' I can't see how they would have a leg to stand on.

 

Remember they are teachers and not lawyers so they may think that they are right, and thay may well be, but logical and fair minded people would think them incorrect in their assumptions. Interesting one this. Hope we can come up with a good answer on SF.

 

Good luck.

[BillyWhiz 10]

It would appear that the school does, but there are to be fair conflicting accounts

 

this is because usually the person who commissions a work would own it (and the copyright) unless otherwise specified.

 

But to 'commission' a piece of work implies 'employment' for the task required.

 

as a child is not an employee and has not been commissioned in its truest sense, to create a piece of work, surely the rights are retained by the child.

[Waldo 96]

I have heard of schools holding on to students' artwork when they leave, unless the student pays to take it home. Anyone else heard of this happening?

[Mathews 10]

In theory it is owned by the crown but it has never been contested in the courtsas there was never been any reason to do this.

[slacko 10]

In most circumstances, your child owns the copyright in all original things they create. This can be a story, a picture, a website page, a video, or a piece of music.

 

This means that the school (or anyone else) cannot copy, adapt, or use your child's work without permission from you and your child. When a school uses your child's material, they need to acknowledge your child as the creator. However, you can ask that your child is not identified.

 

Some schools request that parents/guardians sign a form giving permission to use your child's work in, for example, the school website, newsletter, exhibitions, or publicity material.

[Cynic 10]

At what point does this change then? At Uni if you produce/design something that can be sold I believe the Uni are actually the owner of that product. That is what I have always understood anyway.

[cgksheff 44]

At what point does this change then? At Uni if you produce/design something that can be sold I believe the Uni are actually the owner of that product. That is what I have always understood anyway.

 

Generally, the rights to work that is solely the product of a student will remain with that student.

Those rights can vary when their is input from staff, if the work was in any way collabrative, or if their are conditions imposed by funding bodies, sponsors etc.

 

Here is one explanation from Cambridge:

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/repository/copyright/

 

All Universities will have policies in place which won't differ significantly.

 

 

With regard to the main topic of schoolchidren .... can a minor have copyright control? or would it actually be controlled by parents/guardians until 18?

Edited December 2, 2009 by cgksheff

[boyfriday 21]

..there was little intellectual or right about my schoolwork.

[cgksheff 44]

..there was little intellectual or right about my schoolwork.

 

I'm sure that we can understand how it would have tended to the left!

[donuticus 10]

I've just finished a film production degree. The University retained ownership of the work due to them being it's commisioners, however the students retain all exploitation rights.