Founder
August 4, 2025
17 min read
As the digital transformation of the education world continues at a rapid pace, distance education systems are at the forefront of this change. The widespread adoption of distance education systems, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought new opportunities for educational institutions and faculty members, while also raising various legal responsibilities. Therefore, as Genesis Law Firm, we wish to lay out these legal responsibilities and create an environment where all stakeholders in distance education can act with greater awareness.
In line with this goal, one of the most prominent issues is the protection of content used in distance education. It has become essential to conduct a detailed examination of topics such as how the course videos, presentations, tests, and other digital materials prepared with great effort by faculty members are legally protected, who owns this content, and how their use and the transfer of rights will be managed. Similarly, infringements such as the unauthorized sharing or copying of this content by students also pose a serious legal risk.
In Turkey, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) is the legislation enacted to ensure the protection of content that qualifies as a work, including digital educational materials. However, the scope of this protection depends on various factors, such as who produced the course content, how it was delivered, and the manner of its sharing and use. For example, when course material created by a faculty member is used by the institution on a platform, will the rights holder be the faculty member or the institution? Does the institution need to obtain permission from the author when it wants to use this content while creating other materials? The answers to these and similar questions are related not only to national but also to international legal regulations.
In this article, we will discuss how course content used in distance education is and should be addressed from the perspective of intellectual property rights. We aim to provide a comprehensive perspective on content protection and use in distance education by focusing on topics such as ownership, licensing methods, intellectual property infringements, and the measures that educational institutions can take in this area.
Before delving into the details of this topic, let us begin with a brief introduction to the fundamental principles of intellectual property rights and their applications in distance education.
Intellectual property rights are the rights that provide legal protection for the original ideas, designs, inventions, and other creative works that a person or organization produces as a result of their mental efforts. In other words, the person or organization that holds the intellectual property right to an idea or a product has a special set of rights to use, reproduce, distribute, and otherwise benefit from that idea or product.
In Turkey, these rights are regulated by the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK). According to the scope of the law, every work that emerges as the result of a thought or feeling taking on an aesthetic form is protected by the author's intellectual property rights. This definition covers a wide spectrum, including the digital content used in distance education.
Course videos, presentations, exams, educational materials, podcasts, e-books, and other digital content used in distance education can be examined under the "scientific and literary works" category of the FSEK. In this context, as a rule, content produced by faculty members cannot be used, copied, or distributed without the author's permission. The protection of such works is only possible as long as there is a creative contribution from the author. For example, course videos that contain a creative and original narrative can be protected, whereas a presentation consisting solely of a data table may not be.
According to the FSEK, the rights to educational materials belong to the person who creates them, that is, the faculty members. However, an ownership issue arises for materials prepared under an assignment or a contract from the institution. In this case, since the materials would be considered a work arising from an employment relationship, it is possible for the institution to claim rights over the works. It is here that the regulations regarding these rights in the contracts made between educational institutions and faculty members carry great importance and become the primary source to be consulted for the resolution of potential disputes.
The sharing of course content on digital platforms expands the boundaries of intellectual property rights. However, this content must be subject to different legal assessments depending on the access model and the sharing platform. Educational content may not always be publicly accessible; on the contrary, it can be protected within private access systems and made available only to specific user groups. This situation directly affects the legal status and usage limits of the content. To elaborate with examples:
Course material prepared by a university faculty member may be accessible only on the distance education platform and to students enrolled in the course. In this case, the content is for "internal institutional use" and is not considered publicly accessible material. The unauthorized reproduction, sharing with third parties, or removal of the content from the system is considered an intellectual property infringement and is subject to legal sanctions.
Educational institutions may not only offer some content to their own students but may also share it with other institutions as part of joint projects or academic collaborations. However, this sharing must be regulated by license agreements, and the rights to use the content must be clearly defined.
Some content can be made available through open access models, such as Creative Commons licenses. For example, a faculty member can make a self-produced course video available to the public by sharing it on a platform like YouTube. However, in this case, a violation of the license terms (for example, unauthorized modification of the video or its use for commercial purposes) would still constitute an intellectual property infringement.
Restricting access to content on a distance education platform to only registered users can be supported by Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies. DRM provides both technical and legal protection by preventing the unauthorized reproduction or export of the content.
These examples demonstrate that content in the digital environment can be assessed under different legal statuses depending on its access situation. It is necessary for educational institutions and content creators to clearly define the access model under which they offer their content and to act in accordance with the relevant legal framework.
Intellectual property rights regulated by the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) in Turkey are addressed through different standards and legal frameworks at the international level. The protection and use of educational materials are based on copyright regulations that vary from country to country and on international collaborations. For this reason, it is of great importance that educational content, especially that used in digital environments, complies with international regulations.
In the European Union, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (2019/790) is an important reference point for the protection of educational content. This directive protects the creators of digital content while granting certain exceptions for educational institutions. For example, it permits the sharing of materials used for educational purposes, provided it is not in a commercial context and only to the necessary extent. Furthermore, the licensing and use of materials such as Open Educational Resources (OER) are regulated by this directive. These regulations play a critical role, especially in the institutional and cross-border use of digital educational materials.
In the US, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) offers a very strict legal framework to prevent the unauthorized sharing of digital content. The DMCA protects the rights of content creators while providing support for technical protection measures such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Educational materials are considered among the content protected under the DMCA, and severe sanctions are stipulated in cases of infringement.
Since educational materials have become accessible worldwide, content that complies with the regulations of one country may be subject to different legal assessments in other countries. For example, when course material prepared by a university in Turkey is made accessible from abroad, it must be compliant with international regulations such as both the Copyright Directive and the DMCA. This situation shows that complying only with local regulations is not sufficient, and that international standards and collaborations must also be taken into account.
To protect their digital content in accordance with the international legal framework, educational institutions should consider both technical measures and legal strategies; they should take care to properly manage licensing processes, to make contracts that are compliant with international regulations, and to use Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems.
When it comes to the international sharing and protection of digital educational materials, open source licenses play an important role. These licenses protect the rights of authors while providing a clear and ready-made framework for how the content can be used. Particularly in distance education, globally accepted licensing systems are preferred for the purpose of sharing materials in a widespread and reliable manner. To give examples of some frequently used models:
Creative Commons is one of the most common open license systems that allows content owners to set specific conditions when sharing their works. The CC licenses, which are frequently preferred for sharing educational materials, include the following subtypes:
CC BY (Attribution): Users can freely use, copy, or adapt the work, provided they give credit to the author.
CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike): The work can be used on the condition that it is re-shared under the same license terms.
CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): Use for non-commercial purposes is free, but it cannot be used in commercial activities.
CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike): In non-commercial use, it can be shared provided that the same license terms are maintained.
This licensing system allows for the controlled use of educational content while securing the rights of the authors. However, this system is only one alternative among open source licenses.
GNU General Public License (GPL): This ensures that software, learning management systems (LMS), and tools used in education are open source. Code and digital infrastructures can be freely shared under this license, but it is mandatory that derivative works are also shared under the same license terms.
Apache License: This is a more flexible open source license. It facilitates the use of educational tools for both commercial and academic purposes. A software licensed under the Apache License can be modified, and a new product can be derived from it.
MIT License: Known for its minimalist structure, the MIT License allows works to be used freely for commercial or non-commercial purposes, while imposing a requirement to give credit to the author.
The licenses described above are types that are widely used internationally as ready-made sets, and there is no obligation for an institution to use a specific license. The use of these general licenses stems from the fact that these license sets are shared as open source. Apart from these, there are license sets that institutions and companies develop for themselves, which are developed based on legal groundwork to meet specific needs. These licenses can be shaped according to the needs of the institutions and the intended use of the educational materials. For example:
A university can impose an "internal use only" restriction for content that is accessible only to its registered students.
Faculty members can create special agreements that permit the use of their prepared course materials in non-commercial research.
Institutions can prepare specific collaboration licenses for use in joint projects to protect their content and define the boundaries of sharing themselves.
This freedom allows educational institutions and individual content creators to protect their content in a flexible manner. However, such custom license sets must also be drafted in a clear, precise, and understandable way. Internationally recognized licensing systems ensure the controlled and reliable sharing of digital educational materials. The sharing and protection of educational materials not only ensures compliance with legal regulations but also contributes to the sustainability of distance education by protecting the rights of content creators.
The production of course content used in distance education is generally carried out through the individual work of faculty members or in accordance with assignments given by educational institutions. This situation raises the question of who owns the intellectual property rights to the content. Ownership conflicts that may arise between faculty members and institutions during the production process of educational materials necessitate the correct application of legal regulations in this field.
Educational content falls into the "scientific and literary works" category under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK). In this context, the rights to course materials prepared individually by a faculty member belong directly to that faculty member. This right grants the content owner the authority to:
Use the content,
Publish it,
Reproduce it, and
Share it with third parties.
However, these rights are valid only in cases where the faculty member produces the content individually. The situation changes if the content is prepared under an employment or service contract at the instruction of the institution.
Educational institutions generally consider the contribution of faculty members to the content production process as a "corporate duty." According to the Labor Law and the FSEK, works produced by an employee under the directives of the employer can be considered the "employer's work." In this case, it is possible for the institution to acquire the following rights:
To use the course content on institutional platforms,
To utilize it in other courses or departments, and
To license the use of the content to third parties.
At this point, the employment or license agreements signed between educational institutions and faculty members are of great importance. These contracts clarify the usage rights of the content, thereby preventing potential disputes and serving as a guide for the parties in seeking their rights.
Ownership-related conflicts can arise in various ways, but it is necessary to mention two common examples.
If course materials prepared by a faculty member are shared by the institution on another platform without the faculty member's permission, this can be considered an intellectual property infringement.
For example, a faculty member prepares a video lecture to be used on their university's digital platform. This video is prepared on the condition that it is only accessible to the university's students. However, the institution publishes this content on another online education platform without permission and makes it accessible to a wide audience. In this case, the faculty member can assert their rights over the content and take legal action against the institution for this conduct.
If a faculty member individually shares content prepared for an institutional platform on another platform, this can also constitute a violation of corporate interests.
Similarly, if a faculty member has produced a course to be used on an institutional platform and the contract made with the institution specifies that these materials are exclusively owned by the institution, sharing this content on another platform for personal use can also be considered a violation of the institution's rights.
To prevent such situations, contracts containing the following elements should be made between the parties, and in these contracts, matters such as the scope and duration of use, the rights and obligations of the institution and the faculty member, and the boundaries of use and sharing should be regulated in detail.
The production of digital content in distance education also brings with it the risk of intellectual property rights being infringed. However, the infringements encountered in this field become more complex due to the ease of access and reproduction in digital environments. The most common infringements include unauthorized reproduction and sharing, unauthorized use, and the republication of content without attribution. Educational materials are easily reproduced and distributed, especially by students or third parties who gain access in some way, through various note-sharing sites, groups, or social media platforms. This situation both infringes upon the rights of the faculty members who are the content creators and harms the prestige of the educational institutions.
Intellectual property infringements manifest particularly through the violation of financial and moral rights. When course videos or presentations prepared by a faculty member are used on other platforms without permission or are claimed by other institutions, both the economic and moral rights of the faculty member are harmed. In Turkey, the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) constitutes the legal framework through which authors can take action against such rights infringements. Within the scope of FSEK, rights are granted to apply to the court for the determination of the infringement, to demand a halt to the infringement, and to seek compensation for material and moral damages. However, practical difficulties such as the detection of digital infringements and the length of the judicial process make it quite difficult for rights holders to exercise these rights and to prevent the infringement.
The very nature of digital content, being easily copyable and shareable, also increases technical and practical barriers. Once content is shared on the internet, it can become nearly impossible to control. It is also evident that if educational materials are uploaded to domestic or foreign platforms, the infringement will reach an international dimension. For example, regulations such as the Digital Copyright Directive in force in the European Union or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the US require different legal processes depending on the country where the infringement occurs. This also complicates the process for the rights holders.
Another challenge faced in the process of seeking legal recourse is a lack of awareness. Students are often unaware that sharing or reproducing course content constitutes a legal infringement. Similarly, when educational institutions do not give sufficient importance to content protection systems, it becomes more difficult to prevent these infringements. At this point, the implementation of technical protection systems like Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the clear definition of rights and obligations in the contracts that educational institutions make with their faculty members are of great importance.
Intellectual property infringements in distance education are a serious problem that needs to be solved from both a technical and legal standpoint. The length of judicial processes, the cost of tracking infringements, and uncontrolled sharing in digital environments all complicate the process of seeking legal recourse. To prevent these problems, it is necessary for educational institutions to establish strong technical infrastructures, prepare contracts that protect the rights of faculty members, and raise awareness among their students. Only in this way can the protection of content in distance education be ensured, thereby both protecting the labor of content creators and securing the reliability and sustainability of the education system.
It should not be forgotten that every piece of content produced in education is the product of labor, knowledge, and time. Protecting this labor is a critical step not only for the rights holders but also for the future of the entire educational ecosystem. To sustain the quality and reliability of distance education, it is also essential to strengthen the legal frameworks and to ensure that this framework is adopted by all stakeholders.
In subsequent articles, we will also focus on concrete recommendations, solution mechanisms, and best practices applied in different countries for the protection of content in distance education. Thus, we will continue to build a more in-depth perspective on the protection of intellectual property rights in distance education.
