Policy for Academic Uses Copyright and Academic Integrity

If you are considering using the Video on Demand service for academic purposes the following information will be helpful in understanding the law and policy around the protection of students' education records as well as copyright for both you as the faculty member and for the students.

For any video content related to an official course or class, faculty should use Canvas, the university’s web-based course management platform. The Video on Demand service is not intended as an alternative to canvas. The Video on Demand service may also only be used for content supporting the Cornell academic, research, and outreach missions or other official Cornell use or business. Personal use of the service is prohibited.

Faculty own the copyright of original content entered into the Video on Demand service according to Cornell University Copyright Policy, unless other contracts or agreements have been arranged specifically between the faculty member and the university (for example under a Faculty Innovation in Teaching Project, innovation.cornell.edu). Please note that students own the copyright of the content they contribute, unless they are working in their capacity as a Cornell employee or other holder of a university appointment. Staff content is considered work for hire and therefore owned by the University.

Moreover, all individuals are advised to use the Video on Demand service responsibly by observing all laws and university policy that are incorporated into the Codes of Conduct and Academic Integrity. Some specific aspects of law and policy that might be well to remember are prohibitions against copyright infringement, plagiarism, harassment, or interference with the underlying technical code of software. For more information, visit the CIT site on Digital Literacy, digitalliteracy.cornell.edu.

Family Education Rights Protection Act (FERPA)

Faculty and staff should be aware that the content entered into Video on Demand service identifying students, or content contributed by students, constitutes an education record and that FERPA regulations apply. Those regulations require that the content be protected from disclosure without student consent. Disclosure in this context includes use outside of the class such as posting student content openly on the Internet. Faculty who intend to post original student work openly on the Internet may do so with the students' permission or by providing an opt out option for individual students.

Accessibility Requirements

ASR (machine) captions will be automatically added to all newly-uploaded content. By themselves, ASR captions will not meet the accessibility standards Cornell seeks to achieve. Media owners are responsible for editing the ASR captions to ensure accuracy.