BILL NUMBER: AB 1773 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 574
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 23, 2000
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2000
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2000
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 8, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 30, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 22, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Romero
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aroner, Bock, and Longville)
JANUARY 20, 2000
An act to add Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 66450) to Part
40 of the Education Code, relating to intellectual property.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1773, Romero. Intellectual property: ownership by public
postsecondary faculty.
Existing case law provides that in the absence of evidence of
agreement to the contrary, a teacher, rather than the institution for
which he or she teaches, owns the common law copyright to his or her
lectures.
This bill would prohibit any business, agency, or person from
preparing, causing to be prepared, giving, selling, transferring, or
otherwise distributing or publishing, any contemporaneous recording
of an academic presentation, as defined.
The bill would permit any court of competent jurisdiction to grant
relief that it finds necessary to enforce its provisions, including
the issuance of an injunction and the recovery, from a nonstudent, of
court costs, attorney's fees, and a civil penalty, as specified.
The bill would request the Regents of the University of California
and the governing boards of private postsecondary institutions,
would require the Trustees of the California State University, and
would authorize the governing board of each community college
district to develop policies to prohibit unauthorized recording and
to adopt or provide for the adoption of specific regulations
governing a violation of these provisions by students, along with
applicable penalties for a violation of the regulations, and to also
adopt procedures to inform all students of those regulations.
The provisions of this bill, under existing law, would only apply
to the Regents of the University of California to the extent that the
regents, by appropriate resolution, make those provisions
applicable.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 66450) is added to
Part 40 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6.5. UNAUTHORIZED RECORDING, DISSEMINATION, AND
PUBLICATION OF ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
66450. (a) Except as authorized by policies developed in
accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 66452, no business,
agency, or person, including, but not necessarily limited to, an
enrolled student, shall prepare, cause to be prepared, give, sell,
transfer, or otherwise distribute or publish, for any commercial
purpose, any contemporaneous recording of an academic presentation in
a classroom or equivalent site of instruction by an instructor of
record. This prohibition applies to a recording made in any medium,
including, but not necessarily limited to, handwritten or typewritten
class notes.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with
the rights of disabled students under law.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) "Academic presentation" means any lecture, speech,
performance, exhibit, or other form of academic or aesthetic
presentation, made by an instructor of record as part of an
authorized course of instruction that is not fixed in a tangible
medium of expression.
(2) "Commercial purpose" means any purpose that has financial or
economic gain as an objective.
(3) "Instructor of record" means any teacher or staff member
employed to teach courses and authorize credit for the successful
completion of courses.
66451. (a) Any court of competent jurisdiction may grant relief
that it finds necessary to enforce this chapter, including the
issuance of an injunction. Any person injured by a violation of this
chapter, in addition to actual damages, may recover court costs,
attorney's fees, and a civil penalty from any person who is not a
student enrolled in the institution at which the instructor of record
makes his or her academic presentation and who seeks to obtain
financial or economic gain through the unauthorized dissemination of
the academic presentation. The amount of the civil penalty shall not
exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first offense, five
thousand dollars ($5,000) for the second offense, and for any
subsequent offense, a penalty of not less than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
(b) Actions for any relief pursuant to this chapter may be
prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction by the Attorney
General or any district attorney or by any county counsel authorized
by agreement with the district attorney in actions involving
violation of a county ordinance, or any city attorney of a city, or
city and county, having a population in excess of 750,000, and, with
the consent of the district attorney, by a city prosecutor in any
city having a full-time city prosecutor or, with the consent of the
district attorney, by a city attorney in any city, or city and
county, in the name of the people of the State of California upon
their own complaint or upon the complaint of any board, officer,
person, corporation, or association or by any person acting for the
interests of itself, its members, or the general public.
(c) It does not constitute a violation of this chapter for a
business, agency, or person solely to provide access or connection to
or from a facility, system, or network over which that business,
agency, or person has no control, including related capabilities that
are incidental to providing access or connection. This subdivision
does not apply to a business or agency that is owned by, or to a
business, agency, or person that is controlled by, or a conspirator
with, a business, agency, or person actively involved in the
creation, editing, or knowing distribution of a contemporaneous
recording that violates this chapter.
66452. (a) The Regents of the University of California and the
governing boards of private postsecondary institutions are requested
to, the Trustees of the California State University shall, and the
governing board of each community college district may, in
consultation with faculty, in accordance with applicable procedures,
develop policies to prohibit the unauthorized recording,
dissemination, and publication of academic presentations for
commercial purposes. Nothing in this chapter is intended to change
existing law as it pertains to the ownership of academic
presentations.
(b) The Regents of the University of California and the governing
boards of private postsecondary institutions are requested to, the
Trustees of the California State University shall, and the governing
board of each community college district may, adopt or provide for
the adoption of specific regulations governing a violation of this
chapter by students, along with applicable penalties for a violation
of the regulations. The regents are requested to, the trustees
shall, and the governing board of each community college district
may, adopt procedures to inform all students of those regulations,
with applicable penalties, and any revisions thereof.