Clarification on the Use of Copyrighted Academy Material in SOA Webinar
Because a number of actuaries have commented on the situation, we want to explain what happened with the Society of Actuaries’ March 18 webinar in which copyrighted material from the Academy was used.
The Academy learned about the SOA’s intention to use its material from a webinar registrant who received the corresponding PowerPoint slides the day before the event. Twenty-one of 25 slides were lifted in their entirety from a 2013 Academy webinar on this same subject. The SOA never sought permission from the Academy to use its copyrighted materials.
As soon as the Academy saw the materials, it contacted the SOA and asked them to address this situation. The SOA did not respond (and for that matter, still has not responded). Suggestions during the webinar that we pulled some approval or denied permission are both wrong because the SOA never sought the Academy’s permission at any time.
Most, if not all, professional actuarial associations routinely create proprietary materials for their members. It is widely understood that use by one association of another’s material without permission is inappropriate. Nevertheless, it is often the case that such permission is granted, assuming various criteria are met. The Academy routinely approves such requests when the requestor meets its criteria. One of those criteria is that the material not be reproduced for additional charge to others.
Thus, when the Academy became aware of the webinar, and having not received any request from the SOA to use the Academy’s copyrighted material, it unfortunately had no choice but to ask the SOA to refrain from using these materials. The SOA did not acknowledge the Academy’s request or notify registrants of their error in including the Academy’s copyrighted materials without permission in the first instance. Even after the Academy pointed out the mistake, the SOA still made the materials available to paid registrants.
Academy members interested in further substantive information about ASOP No. 1 and its importance may access the June 2013 recording of the Academy webinar on this subject. This Academy webinar is available without charge to all our members and can be found in the member section of our website. Those materials contain all of the Academy information distributed by the SOA, as well as additional useful information.