An analysis of the knowledge levels of Ohio's post-secondary educators in public/state, private and two-year colleges and universities regarding copyright ownership of Web-based/online courses and materials

Knowledge of copyright is essential for educators in today's rapidly changing educational and technological environment. The study analyzed the knowledge levels of Ohio's post-secondary educators regarding copyright and copyright related issues. A stratified random sample of 62 post-secondary educators who taught web-based courses from public/state, private, religious and two-year colleges participated in the study. The study utilized two instruments: the copyright questionnaire to assess the knowledge levels of educators regarding the Copyright Act and copyright ownership issues, and a copyright follow-up survey to gather and evaluate educators' responses to issues related to copyright knowledge, ownership and management in their current institutions.; Data collected from the questionnaire were subjected to several ANOVA tests, t-tests and Tukey's post hoc test. Data from the survey were analyzed utilizing a modified version of Spradley's (1976) thematic content analysis. The study also utilized a legal research methodology to collect, review, and analyze state and federal case law relevant to a discussion on copyright ownership of educational materials.; The results of the study reveal that post-secondary educators have some knowledge of the Copyright Act and copyright-related issues but were for the most part unstudied in this area. Two demographic variables had a significant effect on post secondary knowledge of copyright law, Educators who taught graduate courses scored significantly lower than those who taught undergraduate and professional courses. Additionally, educators who were aware of their institution's copyright policy scored higher than those who were not. Results from the follow-up survey revealed that most educators feel limited in their knowledge regarding copyright, are concerned about legal issues and request ongoing in-services and workshops to remain informed. The study concluded that institutions of higher education must respond to copyright issues and provide on-going education and access to copyright materials for faculty members.