(C)
Policy
The university encourages and supports
the creation, development, expression and publication of written and recorded
materials by university faculty, staff and students. Such activity furthers the
broad university goals of excellence in knowledge creation, communication, and
dissemination. Publication, a common means for communication and dissemination,
is also a common indicator of scholarly productivity and quality because
publication per se is often preceded by external evaluation of the quality and
significance of the work. Therefore, publication is an important activity for
the university to encourage and support, both because of its scholarly
significance and its role in the communication of knowledge.
An important corollary of publication
is copyrighting, which secures for a limited time an exclusive right of
ownership to authors or creators for their work.
Owners of copyrighted material may
transfer or grant license to use their protected work usually in return for
some fee or other benefit. Thus, copyrighting protects these proprietary and
financial interests while encouraging publication. Many works developed for
publication by university authors or creators are undertaken at their own
initiative. The university clearly recognizes the longstanding norms of
academic freedom and legal tradition that university personnel through their
own initiative may prepare materials that may be copyrighted by and generate
income for the author(s) or creator(s). The university has no interest in
restricting the ability of its personnel to produce copyrightable materials and
to receive royalties therefrom.
The university does recognize however,
a proprietary interest in some materials prepared with its support, by its
personnel or under its auspices for which copyrights are requested. University
support of the scholarly activities leading to creation, development,
expression, and publication of written or recorded materials takes many forms,
including: clerical and research assistance; supplies, equipment, and use of
university facilities and services; specifically assigned time for the work;
graphics and computer services.
Therefore, the purposes of this
copyright policy are to: identify the proprietary rights of personnel and of
the university in respect to copyrightable materials; establish procedures for
clarifying and negotiating proprietary rights when those of the university
intersect with those of its personnel; establish procedures for licensing use
of university copyrighted materials; and establish an income distribution
schedule for royalties resulting from licensing agreements or other marketing
arrangements for university copyrighted materials.
(1)
Publication
rights of university personnel
The policy of the university with
regard to copyrighted materials is intended to foster and support the
traditional freedoms of the university's faculty, staff, and students in
matters of publication. It is also intended to ensure that the university's
legitimate ownership interests in certain classes of materials are adequately
protected and that commercial development is conducted in a manner consistent
with the university's public mission.
The ownership of materials initiated
and produced by authors who are university staff members shall remain with the
authors, except for the classes of works identified below. This policy follows
the principle that ownership of copyright generally vests in the author(s) or
creator(s) of the copyrighted work. When ownership vests in the author or
creator, she/he is entitled to all rights and privileges associated with
commercial development of the work including (but not limited to) copyrighting
the work, registering the copyright, licensing the use of the work, publishing,
marketing, paying fees and expenses associated therewith, and receiving
royalties therefrom.
(2)
Principles of
university ownership
There are, however, exceptions to the
"author/creator as owner" principle. These arise in cases of "works for hire,"
works substantially assisted by the university, works done under a sponsorship
agreement between the university and an external agency, and works contributed
to the university. The university desires to publish, copyright, and license
the use of only those materials which fall into one of these categories and
have a potential for royalty return. The potential for royalty return indicates
that there is economic value to their dissemination requiring copyright
protection. Other university-owned materials should be placed in the public
domain by publishing them with copyright protection and a corollary permission
clause allowing general "not for profit" use. Thus, the principle of author or
creator as owner applies to all but the following categories of copyrightable
materials or works.
(a)
"Works for hire."
Copyrightable materials produced by
university employees as the result of direct work assignments to meet specific
objectives or as an assigned university duty other than general academic
research and normal teaching assignments are "works for hire" for which the
copyrights belong to the university. Such materials are usually not initiated
by the author, although they may result from performance of a general assigned
duty (e.g., a staff member may prepare a manual, instructional materials, or
computer programs as a general assignment of his/her job). Such materials also
include works commissioned by the university which fit within any of the
categories of "specially ordered or commissioned" works enumerated in Section
101(2) of The Copyright Act of 1976. The university supports the primary cost
of the work and all income derived from the work accrues to the university, to
be shared.
(b)
Works substantially assisted by the university
There are some instances in which
copyrighted materials are substantially assisted by university support, such as
(but not limited to): salary awards above and beyond the normal academic year
salary; other staff salaries and effort; use of facilities and equipment;
university computing and graphic services. Where such assistance goes beyond
the author's academic year salary, use of office space, personal use of library
and computing resources, or use of word processing equipment and clerical
assistance, resulting in additional costs to the university, then the work was
created with the substantial assistance of the university. It is
correspondingly reasonable to review the rights to ownership and equities for
that work in consideration of the magnitude and importance of university
assistance in its creation.
Therefore, for works that are created
with substantial university assistance, the rights and equities of ownership
shall be negotiated and agreed upon in writing by the author(s) or creator(s)
of the work and the vice president for research
&
and economic
development prior to release of university copyright privileges. It is
desirable in most cases to negotiate agreements prior to the commitment of the
university assistance for the work. The university may agree to: assign all
rights of ownership to the author or creator; assign joint ownership rights,
sharing in all income derived from the work; negotiate a royalty-free
non-exclusive license to reproduce and use the work for university activities
in return for sole ownership by the author or creator; negotiate a value of the
university's assistance and receive payment of no more than fifty per cent of
royalties accruing to the author or creator up to the value of the university
assistance, in return for sole ownership by the author or creator; or any
combination of the above that adequately reflects the university's level of
support. Whatever arrangement is negotiated, the author or creator shall
acknowledge in writing in the work the support of Bowling Green state
university in producing the work.
The vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall utilize the assistance of the copyright advisory committee in
negotiating the ownership rights and equity. If no arrangement can be mutually
agreed
upon, the copyright advisory committee
and the vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall make independent recommendations regarding ownership and
equity to the/resident who shall assign the rights of ownership and equity and
whose decision will be final.
(c)
Externally
sponsored works.
The ownership of copyrightable
materials prepared either wholly or partially with the support of grants or
contracts from an external agency shall be determined according to the terms
and conditions of the applicable grants or contracts. Where the applicable
grant or contract is silent on rights to and income from copyrightable
materials or where the agency has no policy pertaining thereto, rights to
ownership shall be determined as if the materials were "substantially assisted
by the university."
(d)
Works contributed
to the university.
University personnel may choose to
contribute copyrightable materials to the university and thereby assign all
rights of ownership to the university. The university may choose to accept or
not to accept such works for university ownership. In accepting such works for
university ownership, the vice president for research
&
and economic
development may negotiate a limited license for personal use by the author or
creator as well as a share of any royalties earned by the university from
commercial development in return for contribution of the copyrightable work.
Nothing in this
section
paragraph shall be construed to be contrary to the policies
of Bowling Green state university publications in regard to ownership rights or
equities.
(e)
Student works
Unless subject to the provisions within
this policy, copyrightable works prepared by students as part of the
requirements for a degree program are deemed to be the property of the student,
but are subject to the following provision. The university shall have, as a
condition of the degree award, a non-exclusive royalty-free right to retain and
use a limited number of copies of the copyrightable work and the right to
secure its publication for archival use.
(f)
Responsibilities
and administration
(i)
The vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall be responsible for promoting general awareness of this policy
by university personnel and for answering any specific questions having to do
with its terms or implementation.
(ii)
University
personnel agree to abide by this policy and by procedures for its
implementation as a condition of their employment.
(iii)
The vice
president for research
&
and economic development shall appoint a copyright advisory
committee consisting of three members of the faculty, one administrative staff
member, and one classified staff member for terms of three years. Initial
appointments shall be for staggered terms to avoid disruptive member changes
every third year. The committee shall meet at least once a
year.
(iv)
The vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall develop and approve agreements about and assignments of
copyright to authors or creators, to the university, or to both, in regard to
works which are produced with substantial university
assistance.
(v)
The vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall provide assistance in securing the^ copyright to any works in
which the university has proprietary rights and equity.
(vi)
The vice
president for research
&
and economic development shall provide assistance in
licensing or distributing any copyrightable works in which the university
shares rights and equities with the author or creator or external
sponsor.
(vii)
The vice president for research
&
and economic
development shall establish appropriate accounts and" procedures for receiving
and distributing income accruing to the university as the result of licenses to
use copyrighted works in which the university has proprietary rights and
equities or for which there are other agreements assigning income to the
university.
(g)
Distribution of income
Net income accruing to the university
from the commercial licensing or development of wholly university-owned
copyrights resulting from works for hire shall be distributed as
follows:
Thirty-three per cent to the author(s)
or creator(s), with the balance sixty-seven per cent to the university. Net
income is gross income less expenses for copyright registration, marketing, or
other requirements for use and sale of materials outside the
university.
Although this is the norm for
university copyright agreements, the distribution formula is subject to
negotiation for works substantially assisted by the university, externally
sponsored works, and works contributed to the university. The distribution
formula in these instances should reflect the level of university support or
assistance.
Date: November 1st, 2013