Intellectual property rights are granted by society to producers of novel or original work through research, scholarly or creative ventures. The nature of graduate education leads to the creation of intellectual property daily, and it is crucial that graduate community members are aware of Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education. Further, there are several offices at the institution supporting IP creation and mobilization, ranging from Innovation York—who help facilitate and maximize the commercial, economic, and social impacts of research & innovation—to York University Libraries and the Teaching Commons—units supporting a variety of researchers in the dissemination of new knowledge.
Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education outlines two central tenets: (1) in general, intellectual property rights are granted to the creator; and (2) graduate education is contingent upon the intentional contributions of supervisors and supervisory committees towards the student’s intellectual development and research/scholarly/creative outputs. While exceptions may present themselves due to differing practices across disciplines, graduate students and faculty are responsible for upholding the general principles of intellectual property, in line with the university’s commitment to the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education encompass all graduate students, and graduate education broadly, at York University. Additionally, the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) Collective Agreement outlines information for full-time faculty and professional librarians at the university holding tenure-stream appointments (excluding Osgoode Hall Law School).
Yes, as a graduate student, you are expected to produce original work in many respects, and as such, intellectual property rights are granted to the creator.
Graduate students are the sole authors of their thesis, dissertation, research project or creative work, and therefore hold the copyright.
While practices vary between disciplines, authorship can be credited only to those who make substantial intellectual contributions to a piece of work. It is important to discuss expectations on co-authorship with your graduate supervisor, in line with Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education. Disciplinary norms and practices can also be discussed further with your Graduate Program Director.
Several intellectual property considerations must be accounted for when one is interested in working with Indigenous communities. Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education outline responsibilities and actions to be aware of prior to the start of any research. Additionally, the Indigenous Research Ethics Board at York University shall govern all research done involving Indigenous Peoples and knowledges, cultural heritage and traditional cultural expressions.
While rare, disputes can arise regarding intellectual property between various individuals. Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education outline clear steps for resolving disputes on such matters.
While not mandatory, graduate students and their supervisors are encouraged to agree in writing to matters concerning IP at the onset of the relationship through the Intellectual Property Awareness Checklist, and the Research, Scholarly and/or Creative Works Agreement Template (TBD). Such an agreement helps to lay out clear expectations and greatly reduces the risk of misinterpretation or the need for dispute resolution.
There are several types of work performed by graduate students at the university while completing a graduate degree. For graduate students conducting research, scholarly or creative activities as part of an employment relationship with the university, ownership of intellectual property lies with the creator, except for works that are standard administrative or professional assigned tasks created in the course of the employment. In such scenarios, ownership lies with the university. A common example of such a scenario would be producing course materials such as assignments or examinations, as the creation of these materials are often an assigned task as part of the employment position. This would differ from the production of teaching notes—one’s intellectual contribution to teaching the course materials of the class—that continue to lie with the creator.
It is important for graduate students to discuss these matters with their employment supervisor at the onset of the arrangement to help ensure clarity between both parties.
Graduate students whose financial support stems primarily from their supervisor’s research funds typically receive a Research Assistantship (RA), which is a non-employment relationship. RAships are work performed by full-time graduate students registered at York who receive financial assistance from or through York for research and academic activities which are predominantly for the purposes of advancing the students’ progress towards fulfilment of their program and degree requirements.
Despite the origin of the funding source, it does not negate the central tenets and principles outlined in Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education. While terms of a grant may have specific parameters in place, generally, ownership of intellectual property lies with the creator. This reinforces the importance of using the Intellectual Property Awareness Checklist, and the Research, Scholarly and/or Creative Works Agreement Template (TBD) to set out clear guidelines and expectations. The supervisor should make sure the student is aware of any restrictions relating to ownership, publication and use of any work (including data or results). It is the responsibility of both supervisor and student to ensure a document setting out these matters comes into existence, to inform themselves of its contents, and to act by it, in line with Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education.
Most public granting agencies that commonly support graduate education in Canada e.g., Tri-agency funding do not impose intellectual property claims as an obligation to receive funds. However, granting agencies are all not alike, especially with the increase of those from the private sector providing financial support to graduate students. It is critical that graduate students read and understand the terms and conditions laid out by the granting agency for receipt of funds for the purposes of conducting graduate research. It may be the case that some conditions seem relatively straightforward or standard; however, being a registered graduate student at York University denotes accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations on Intellectual Property and Graduate Education. Intellectual property conditions beyond the standards set out by York University must be carefully considered.
Graduate students should speak with their Graduate Program Director (GPD) for guidance in situations where a funding body imposes some form of intellectual property stipulations for the receipt of funds.
Aside from rare scenarios involving a co-authorship/creator arrangement, this would not apply. Ownership of intellectual property lies with the creator—in this case, the graduate student producing academic work as part of a university course.
Similarly, graduate students have no rights regarding the academic work of the course director and may not copy or publish their written work or recorded lectures without permission.
Innovation York’s commercialization unit helps researchers bring their early stage intellectual property from the lab to the market and into people’s hands. It is recommended to seek out the unit’s advice and assistance as early as possible in the process. As their expertise extends from assistance in licensing to providing support for a start-up venture, the commercialization unit is available to provide support to all researchers at the institution.
Artistic Works FAQs—With a particular emphasis on film/video, new media and other audio-visual works (given the extensive use of research creation at the university)
As director (and in most cases, producer), students hold the copyright to all the artistic work they create during their Studies, including class assignments and the final thesis project. Artistic works may include, but are not limited to, films, music, visual art, photographs, and those stemming from artistic craftsmanship. Copyright is a legal framework that protects creators by establishing economic and moral rights that enable creators to control the publication and reproduction of their works, receive remuneration, and protect the integrity of those works.
If a graduate research creation project includes copyright-protected works like archival footage and/or licensed material from other sources, York University shall request that the student has permission in writing from the copyright owner, or has a publisher’s permission licence, to use any copyrighted material created by others. The student is responsible for ensuring that they have the legal rights to include every material whose copyright belongs to another in their thesis/dissertation, as an example. Simply referencing a material does not give the legal right to publish that material in a thesis/dissertation. If a student does not have rights to the copyright, they must redact the archival footage and/or licensed material from the publication.
Fair Dealing is a user’s right in copyright law permitting use of, or ‘dealing’ with, a copyright protected work without permission or payment of copyright royalties. The fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act allows one to use other people’s copyright-protected material for the purpose of research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review or news reporting, provided that what is done with the work is ‘fair’. If the purpose is criticism, review or news reporting, the researcher must also mention the source and author of the work for it to be fair dealing. However, it is essential for students to clarify if their claim to fair dealing in their work is legitimate. A timely and open discussion with their supervisor and/or Graduate Program Director is essential.
Yes. In some cases, contracts with third parties may restrict the dissemination of student work. For example, in the case of a fiction film produced by a student in AMPD, there is an agreement with ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), signed by York University, that stipulates that students who have made a fiction film for course work or their thesis/dissertation and employed ACTRA members only have the right to exhibit the film for academic purposes, non-commercial showcase screenings for professional and student audiences, and entry of the Production into non-commercial film competition. This highlights again the importance of conversations with thesis supervisor and/or Graduate Program Director when those categories are unclear.
It is important that students working with collaborators establish the parameters of ownership in advance of or during the production of a work, following best practices within the discipline or professional practice. For example, creative practice research projects might be created by collectives whose members make key contributions to the work. In the specific example of filmmaking for a thesis, film credits are expected to accurately reflect the student’s contributions and the contributions of all their collaborators—like Director of Photography or Editor—following best practices of independent film production. But only the director holds the copyright to their films created as class assignment films and thesis project, and for copyright purposes is understood as the author.
In some cases, the co-authorship by a faculty member(s) may be restricted by internal program regulations. For example, films and videos created at CMA/FILM may acknowledge the contributions of committee, faculty and staff members in their credits (e.g., including their names in the ‘Thank you’ or ‘Special Thanks’ credit) but not credited for any creative role (e.g., ‘story editor’ or ‘executive producer’).
Even though the individual creator is the copyright holder, at the Graduate Program in Film, all film/video thesis works must include the York University logo in the credits. That potentially makes the university liable for legal action if statements are perceived as slander, libel or hate speech. While York University’s commitment to academic freedom is a foundational pillar of the institution, it is important and beneficial for students to discuss with their supervisory committee or Graduate Program Director if their thesis film may require the attention of York’s Office of the Counsel for guidance and support navigating such complex ethical and potentially legal situations.
Students have a responsibility to ensure that the work conforms to appropriate standards of academic conduct beyond their immediate graduate student/supervisory relationship. In the example of a film/video production, when engaging in creative practise, students need to ensure that their film crew and actors on a set of a fiction film are behaving in an appropriate manner, and that their documentary film subjects fully comprehend and sign appropriate consent forms which are intended to protect the research subjects and researchers alike. This differs from a release form, common in the industry, that predominantly indemnifies the producer and/or broadcaster. In fact-based documentaries, the depiction of human beings and events must abide by journalistic principles.