Intellectual Property Policy

1. Purpose

1.1 To provide a framework for the encouragement and acknowledgement of invention and creative work, the responsible and legal management of CIT intellectual property (IP), and use of third party IP in compliance with legislation and related agreements.

1.2 To ensure CIT collects and preserves, as a permanent record for the CIT Archive, CIT publications and other material of significance in the formation and operation of technical and vocational education.

2. Scope

This policy covers IP created by staff and students of CIT, CIT Solutions, and CIT's agents and related parties, and IP selected for inclusion in the CIT Archive.

3. Principles

3.1 CIT owns institute intellectual property created by staff members in the course of their employment with CIT and CIT Solutions in both written and electronic form as set out in the Copyright Act 1968, except as otherwise agreed in writing between the staff member and delegate.

3.2 Students own the intellectual property they create in the course of their studies and/or research at CIT, except as otherwise agreed in writing. CIT will retain a copy of all student assessment items as set out in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015.

3.3 Where issues arise in relation to the ownership of intellectual property the CIT Copyright Officer must be consulted.

3.4 All CIT intellectual property will include a CIT copyright notice, and be stored and retrievable from the approved CIT systems.

3.5 CIT acknowledges moral rights granted to creators to be attributed for the work they have created. The creators of works in which CIT owns copyright will be attributed, unless:

1. the creator requests CIT not to attribute:
2. the creator agrees with CIT that it is not appropriate to be attributed: or
3. CIT considers that it is not reasonable to attribute the creator as set out in the Copyright Act 1968.

3.6 Staff of CIT, CIT Solutions and CIT's agents and related parties are authorised by agreement/ licence, by exceptions in the Copyright Act 1968 or by a statutory licence to use third party intellectual property and:

1. must acknowledge the use of third party intellectual property with the appropriate citations;
2. are responsible for ensuring that CIT does not infringe the intellectual property rights of others in the reproduction, adaptation and use of the material.

3.7 Development of intellectual property prepared for commercial sale or delivery that relies on the use of, or builds on third party intellectual property, must address in a written agreement, the ownership of, and rights to use the third party intellectual property.

3.8 CIT staff must not sell or licence, or offer to sell or licence, any intellectual property created by CIT students, except where the student has first explicitly assigned CIT permission to do so, in writing.  If a third party approaches CIT staff regarding student intellectual property, that approach should be forwarded onto the student in a manner that does not involve providing the student's contact information to the third party.

3.9 All agreements relating to intellectual property must be in writing and address IP ownership including rights to pre-existing intellectual property and that are created as part of the agreement. The written agreement must be lodged with the delegate.

3.10 CIT staff and students are prohibited from using CIT’s ICT network for the purpose of copyright infringement. CIT staff or students found to be repeatedly engaging in copyright infringement activities may have their ICT network access privileges suspended.

3.11 CIT participates in the Safe Harbours scheme in Part V Division 2AA of the Copyright Act 1968. The National Copyright Unit (NCU) is CIT's designated representative for the scheme and is first point of contact for takedown notices. CIT will remove the copyright content from its systems within 2 days of receiving a takedown notice, and will issue a counter notice to allow CIT staff or students to contest the infringement claims.

3.12 The CIT Library maintains the CIT Archive that houses a collection of material selected and preserved for its retrospective value and ensures CIT meets its obligations under the Copyright Act 1968 and Territory Records Act 2002.

3.13 Three copies of CIT produced publications must be lodged with CIT Library and Learning Services for inclusion in the CIT Archive, and for forwarding to the National Library of Australia Legal Deposit Unit in order for CIT to meet its legal deposit obligations under the Copyright Act 1968.

3.14 The CIT Archive will not duplicate publications held in other areas of CIT.

4. Documentation

Legislation

• Canberra Institute of Technology Act 1987 (ACT)
• Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)
• Territory Records Act 2002 (ACT)

Related CIT information and guidelines

CIT Student Information
Copyright and Plagiarism information for CIT students on LibGuides
Copyright Information Copyright Information for staff
CIT Archive Collection General Library Guideline GLG18
Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015
Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015

5. Definitions

All terminology used in this policy is consistent with definitions in the CIT Definitions of Terms.

6. Policy Contact Officer

Director, Learning Services and Innovation.

Contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au for further information.

7. Procedures

This policy is implemented through the associated procedures. Authority to make changes to the procedures rests with the policy owner.