75 Iowa L. Rev. 381 (1989-90)

     In this article the author explores the issues of academic copyright and looks specifically at the rights of high school teachers.  Specifically in section V the article outlines several recent cases and how they impact the idea of a ‘teacher exception’ and also goes into a good amount of detail about the reasoning behind the courts' decisions.  The author also discuss a few solutions to this issue.  Arguing that neither the school nor the teacher solely owning the copyright presents a great solution.  If the school owns the copyright then they have removed a large incentive for teachers to produce, and if the teachers have sole possession of copyright they could severely limit the academic environment, if they decided to be very strict and not allow their works to be used and shared among their peers.  The example given was a teacher develops an exam; if the exam is particularly well designed it is in the best interest of the students and the school to make this available to all the students in the district.  If the teacher refuses to allow the distribution then they are impeding progress; the opposite of what copyright is intended for.

     As a solution for this the article explores several routes, sharing copyright between the school and the teacher seems an obvious solution, but it begins to fail when one considers the relatively transient nature of teachers.  While not as drastic as university professors, some high school teachers will be at several schools before they find one that suits them.  If they are not allowed to use their own works once they transfer to a new school they will be in a difficult situation.  An alternative is using the right of teacher inception, which would have to be contractually agreed on.  This would allow the school the right to use a work created by the teacher for educational non-profit purposes, but the teacher would hold all other rights.  Allowing them to profit from their creativity.

     This seems like a good general solution.  However, it likely cannot be applied to Mauro v Allentown.  If there were no prior agreement to the right of teacher inception then it would not be valid.  So while the right of teacher inception is a viable and mutually beneficial solution, this situation is most likely going to have to rely on precedent to be decided.