Government school and TAFE teaching staff are generally employed by the relevant State or Territory Department of Education. As the relevant Department of Education is a direct instrument of the Crown (government), the Crown copyright ownership provisions apply to works created by the relevant Department's permanent employed staff and casual teachers.
The Crown copyright provisions provide that the Crown owns copyright in all works, films, sound recordings and broadcasts for works:
This includes all works created under a consultancy or commission agreement unless there is an agreement dealing with ownership of the copyright that is to the contrary.
Where the teacher is employed directly by the School, then employer ownership provisions under the Copyright Act apply.
The independent school as the employer owns copyright materials produced by the teacher in the course of their employment, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
Course notes, syllabuses and other teaching materials are likely to be owned by employers. On the other hand, if a teacher wrote a text book or article on the subject they teach, copyright ownership of the text book will belong to the teacher unless the school had required the teacher to write the book.
Employment of TAFE teachers varies across Australia. Some are employed directly by the institution, others are employed by the State or Territory administering body or Department of Education.
Some TAFE institutions are independent statutory bodies and will be covered by the employer copyright ownership rule, not the Crown copyright provisions.
