Intellectual Property and Copyright - Corporate Staff

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Information for corporate staff

Intellectual property (including copyright material) is created and used by Departmental staff in the course of many day-to-day activities.To ensure that IP is managed effectively, staff need to understand:

• what IP and copyright is
• how we create, record and report IP (including copyright)
• how to manage IP (including copyright) – our own and that of others.

Management processes

If the Department owns or has a licence to use IP, this is ‘Departmental IP’ - and it is an IP asset.

Departmental IP is created or acquired by the Department. It is created by Departmental staff when they are working under the direction or control of the Department.

Departmental IP:

• is acquired when a licence to use IP is purchased by the Department
• may be acquired when the Department enters into contracts for the provision of services
• is also acquired if a student assigns copyright to the Department, or grants the Department a licence to use their IP.

The key processes involved in managing IP within the Department are:

• identifying and registering IP in the Department’s IP Register
• reporting IP of significant value in the Department’s annual financial statements
• using and publishing the Department’s IP
• granting permission for others to use the Department’s IP.

Using non-Departmental IP

Departmental staff may need to use IP that the Department does not own or have a licence to use. This needs to be done with care to avoid copyright infringement.

The key point to note is that IP that is not wholly-owned by the Department cannot be used except if the use:

• is permitted under existing licence arrangements
• has been authorised by the copyright owner.

Staff need to be aware of the processes for using non-Departmental IP under licence, and for obtaining permission directly from copyright owners.

More information

A key reference with which staff should be familiar is the Department's Intellectual Property Policy and Principles.

More detailed guidance on the processes involved in managing IP can be found in the Intellectual Property and Copyright Guidelines.

For more information not covered in the site, email copyright@edumail.vic.gov.au.