University of Virginia Library

2. OWNERSHIP

a. General

The copyright owner of a work has the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, sell, lend, lease, license, perform, display, or prepare derivatives of the work. A copyright owner can enforce a copyright against infringement.

Ownership of the copyright interest in a work vests initially in the author of the work. The Copyright Act of 1976 provides that when a copyrightable work is produced by one person who has been employed by another for that purpose, it is the employer, not the work's creator, who is considered the author for copyright purposes. An exception to this rule involves faculty members' copyrightable works, even though such works are expected as part of their obligation to produce scholarly and academic works. The University will not claim an interest in such works unless they require significant use of University facilities, personnel or resources, or are part of a specific assignment.

b. Professional Rights of University Faculty

It has long been a recognized right of members of the faculty to write and produce materials subject to copyright, to copyright those materials and to receive royalties resulting from their use. Such materials include, but are not limited to books, articles, artwork, computer software, film, and videotape. The University encourages these activities.

Faculty shall retain all rights relating to copyright ownership, including but not limited to the sale, publication, distribution and classroom use of materials which they have prepared on their own initiative without significant use of University facilities, personnel or resources. This provision includes scholarly papers published in journals and books, as well as unpublished scholarly works. However, works developed pursuant to a faculty member's administrative duties or works specifically assigned by a person acting on behalf of the University may be deemed to be the property of the University.

c. Rights of University Employees

Generally, the University will exercise ownership rights to an employee's work when development of the work was within his scope of employment or pursuant to a specific assignment. The employee owns the rights to any work created at his own initiative, outside the scope of employment and developed without significant use of University facilities, personnel, or resources.

d. Proprietary Interests of the University

In order to encourage creative efforts by faculty and other employees, the University shall be deemed to own all rights, title and interest in materials subject to copyright only when:

• i. the materials result from an assigned duty of a University employee or faculty member; or
• ii. significant use of University facilities, personnel or resources is made in the production of the materials.

The University may waive some or all of its interest in a work in favor of the work's creator depending on the circumstances of creation.