Taiwan's IPO Issues Opinion on Copyright of School Paper of a Student

In an opinion issued by Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) on May 17, 2006, the copyright of a student's work may be jointly owned by the student and his teacher. The opinion states that if the teacher only guides the student by pointing out ideas to the student and does not take part in the actual writing of the paper, the teacher will not accrue any copyright. However, if the teacher takes part in the writing of the paper, the copyright may be jointly owned by both the teacher and the student unless there is an agreement between the parties providing otherwise. In such an event, neither the teacher nor the student may claim to be the only author of the work. Under Taiwan law, it is possible to stipulate the ownership of copyright of a work by an agreement, including both moral right and property right.