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NCSU Copyright Ownership Policy Recommendations Prepared by The Copyright Ownership Task Force August 25, 1999 Page 1 I. Introduction The environment in which faculty carry out scholarly activities has changed dramatically in the past two decades. The advent of electronic networks, the increasing domination of scholarly publishing by commercial publishers, and the growing role of Web-based course materials and distance learning all require an increased sophistication in copyright management on the part of the University community. The following policy recommendation seeks to balance the legitimate rights and responsibilities of North Carolina State University, its faculty, staff, and students in order to produce the highest quality of scholarly works and to promote the widest possible dissemination of those works throughout our state, nation, and world. The goal of the proposed policy is to foster a scholarly atmosphere within the academy that enhances the ability of the North Carolina State University community to meet its tripartite missions of teaching, research, and service. II. Proposed NCSU Copyright Ownership Policy Faculty and Certain Other EPA Positions Faculty, Research Assistants, Teaching Assistants, Research Associates, and Post-Doctoral Fellows (hereafter referred to as "creators") shall own copyright to works they produce unless otherwise specified by a prior written agreement between the creator and a contracting organization. The contracting organization may be external (e.g., a publisher) or internal (e.g. a University-based organizational unit). Contracts or agreements with parties outside the University will be subject to University policies on consulting and conflict of interest. (See Faculty Handbook, Section 10-6.) University organizational units should have written agreements with creators in cases involving substantial investment by the University unit in the creation of the work. Ownership to copyright in such cases will be governed by the contract or agreement under which the work is produced. In meeting its mission of education and the dissemination of knowledge, the University has the right to reproduce, distribute, display, or perform the creatorÕs works, for nonprofit research, educational, and extension or service purposes, in the absence of a written contract or agreement to the contrary. The rights retained by the University will be royalty-free and perpetual, but may be released back to the creator of the work in exceptional circumstances. Such release of rights to the creator will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the Intellectual Property Committee and confirmed in writing by the Office of Technology Transfer and Industry Research. If the University contributes no resources to the creation of the work above the usual level of office, secretarial and library support, the University will retain no additional rights beyond the right of use specified above. If the University contributes significant resources in producing the work beyond the usual level of office, secretarial, and library support, the University will retain additional rights. These additional rights include: a) The right to pursue commercialization of the work, with the consent of the creator. b) The right to recover the costs of "substantial resources" in cases where works are commercialized. The rate of cost recovery will not exceed twenty percent of total revenues per year and are subject to negotiation between the creator and the University. c) The right to recover a share of proceeds above and beyond cost recovery not to exceed twenty percent of the total revenue per year, subject to negotiation between the creator and the University. d) The right to update or modify the work to maintain its value to the University. The above policy provisions were designed to alleviate the following important scenarios. If a work is created outside the scope of employment with the university, such that the employee is the copyright holder from the outset, several important protections for the employee (whether faculty, research associate or TA/RA) will be unavailable. These protections include: a) the services of university legal counsel b) Section 504(c)(2) of the copyright act provides that a court must remit statutory damages in any case where the infringer believed and had reasonable grounds for believing that the use was a fair use and was an employee of a nonprofit educational institution acting within the scope of his/her employment. c) other protections available to employees of non-profit educational institutions acting within the scope of their employment NEXT PAGE DECISION TREE

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Last Updated: 10/04/99