Continuing Education (CE)

Does your non-profit organization or professional association engage in any kind of continuing education? If so, are you confident the content you produce and distribute is free of the risk of copyright infringement and plagiarism? Not so confident? That’s where we can help.

Non-credit offerings may vary in purpose: professional enrichment, core competencies for executives, or timely information from the thought leaders in your profession. What matters is that permission has been obtained to use any copyrighted content and that appropriate attribution has been given.

Advances in Internet technologies have made continuing education opportunities more robust than even a decade ago. There is a tremendous demand for professionals to keep their knowledge and skills current. Online education and e-learning mechanisms provide on-demand access to the latest in scientific advancements. Professional certification organizations, state and federal agencies are constantly changing professional education requirements in an attempt to keep abreast of new developments.

Managing Risk

Managing copyright issues across an organization often is about managing risk. Risk comes on two fronts: 1) Copyright Compliance – Does the content being offered infringe someone else’s copyright? and 2) Copyright Protection – Does the organization secure maximum protection of its own rights in the various delivery media it employs?

Copyright Compliance

Every organization faces important copyright issues, regardless of size.

• Does the organization have a copyright compliance policy or guidelines?
• Are your content developers trained in the appropriate use of other people’s content?
• Has the organization obtained copyright clearance agreements for the use of other people’s content?
• Is the organization complying with the terms of all copyright clearance agreements?

We can guide you in developing a project management system to ensure a high level of copyright compliance in all areas related to your use of copyrighted content.

Maximize Copyright Protections

In addition to minimizing risk, have you considered the value of the content your organization is creating? Subsequently, have you initiated procedures to protect your copyrightable content? Because technology makes it so easy to capture and convert content, the same content is often packaged in different formats to facilitate the learning process.

• live presentations, webinars, and group sessions via the Internet
• on-demand audio and video recordings of live events
• study guides
• PDF documents that depict Powerpoint presentations

Powerpoint presentations, sound recordings, video recordings, and PDF versions of a Powerpoint presentation all require separate copyright registrations.

We can assist you in developing a system to help you enhance your control of others’ use of your copyrighted content.

Contact Us to discuss your particular consulting needs.