The University’s Intellectual Property Rights Policy strictly prohibits any violation of intellectual property rights. All educational materials (including, but not limited to, course materials, PowerPoint presentations, web contents, recordings and other audio-visual resources) are copyright protected. Students and graduates must not share these materials with a third party unless they have written permission from the teacher concerned (and from the University as applicable). In no case shall these materials be shared with or sold to commercial websites. The University reserves the right to take legal and disciplinary action against any violation. Any unauthorized broadcasting, distribution, transmission or publication of such materials in whole or in part in any form to a third party may contravene local copyright law and international copyright conventions, resulting in possible legal action and consequences.
Suggested steps for teaching staff to protect educational materials:
- Post course materials on a password-protected platform (e.g. Moodle) so that they can be accessed only by enrolled students.
- Remind students that all educational materials are protected by the University’s Intellectual Property Rights Policy, local copyright law, and international copyright conventions, and that such materials must not be shared with a third party without permission from the teacher concerned (and from the University as applicable).
- Include a watermark in the header or footer on every page of course materials, e.g. “This content is copyright protected and must not be shared, uploaded or distributed without permission. Copyright © Year – The University of Hong Kong/Name of Teacher”.
- In a case of copyright infringement by a commercial website, lodge a complaint with the website and demand that the copyrighted materials be taken down.
More information pertaining to copyright education and awareness is available on the following websites: