100.030 Copyright Regulations

Bd. Min. 2-19-71, p. 35,527; Revised Bd. Min. 5-4-84; Revised Bd. Min. 9-27-02, Amended 11-29-07; Amended 6-11-10; Amended 7-23-10, Amended 4-12-13; Amended 6-24-21

The following policy is intended to foster the traditional mission of a University to encourage the creation, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge. This policy is intended to clarify and protect the respective rights of the University, its students, faculty, staff, and other employees, by establishing policies governing the ownership, use, and rights to income of copyrightable materials.

Coverage of Policy
1. In conjunction with the University Conflict of Interest Regulations 330.015 and the University Invention and Patent Regulations 100.020 as they may be amended from time to time, this policy governs the rights and responsibilities of University employees, students, and of any other persons using University facilities or resources in the creation of original works of authorship subject to protection by copyright law. The faculty will continue to hold copyright for traditionally accepted intellectual property that is developed in their roles as teachers and scholars subject to the provisions of section 2 herein. These include, but are not limited to such materials as books, workbooks, study guides, monographs, articles, and other works including music and performances, whether embodied in print, electronic format, or in other media.
2. The University will own the copyright in materials that are:
  1. commissioned for its use by the University; or
  2. created by employees if the production of the materials is a specific responsibility of the position for which the employee is hired; or
  3. sponsored works, which are works resulting from internal grants (work created as a result of an agreement between the University and the creator(s) of the work) and external grants (work created as a result of an agreement between an external sponsor and the University). This provision does not apply to grants to perform research where the production of copyrightable materials is ancillary to the purpose of the grant. Employees continue to own the copyright to scholarly and other publications that present the findings of research, subject to the provisions of subsection 2 herein; or
  4. created with the use of substantial University resources which are specifically provided to support the production of copyrightable materials.
    
    (1) If substantial University resources will be used in the development of educational materials, a written agreement between the author and University setting forth the terms of
    
    (a) copyright ownership and
    (b) use, revision and maintenance shall precede the use of said resources. Limited secretarial support, uses of the library for which special charges are not normally made, and the staff member's own time except as covered by subsections 2.a. and 2.b. herein shall not be considered substantial University resources.
    
    (2) In the unusual circumstance in which the said materials were developed with substantial University resources without an agreement the University may, in its discretion, claim copyright ownership and/or a share of royalties.
3. Faculty, staff, and other employees must notify the University prior to entering into a contractual agreement in which royalties or other forms of remuneration are involved related to materials as defined in section A.2. The Chancellor on each campus shall designate an individual or unit who is responsible for receipt of said notifications.
4. Copyrightable software, except software included in mediated courseware, owned by the University pursuant to section A.2. herein, shall be submitted to the technology transfer office (“TTO”) for review and evaluation. The TTO shall have the sole discretion to decide whether to proceed with the copyright registration and/or the commercialization of the work.
5. In general, students of the University of Missouri will be entitled to own any copyrightable works made during their enrollment as a student of the University and will generally not be required to assign his or her ownership to the University; provided, however, the foregoing general rule does not apply and the student will be required to assign his or her ownership interest to the University in any circumstance in which the student is a University employee, provided such copyrightable work was created in the course of the student-employee's service to the University.
  Without limiting the language of the foregoing general rule or the language of the foregoing exceptions to the general rule, the following are examples of fact situations in which the University will not claim ownership of copyrightable work made by a student of the University:
  1. The copyrightable work was created by a student as part of a University class project using no greater University resources than those generally available to all other students within the class or than those available to the student as part of his/her enrollment with the University.
  2. The copyrightable work was created by a student as part of a University approved student competition using no greater University resources than those generally available to all other students within the competition or than those available to the student as part of his/her enrollment with the University. The student shall be entitled to receive any monetary or other prize awarded to the student for his/her performance under such competition in accordance with the rules of the competition and such prize shall not be considered compensation whereby such student would be considered an employee solely based upon receipt of such prize.
  3. The copyrightable work was created by a student as part of a University approved extracurricular activity, using no greater University resources than those generally available to all other students participating in the activity or than those available to the student as part of his/her enrollment with the University.
  4. The copyrightable work was created by a student on his/her own free time, outside of any University class or sponsored activity, and using no greater University resources than those generally available to all other students as part of their enrollment with the University.
  5. The student is a full-time student receiving compensation for services rendered to the University which services are unrelated to research or investigation and are unrelated to the creation of computer software.
6. The Chancellor on each campus shall designate an individual or unit who is responsible for implementing reasonable procedures designed to make students aware of Section 100.030A.5 and to provide one or more avenues for students to receive information regarding the University's interpretation of the student's rights and obligations with respect to the creation of copyrightable works.
7. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, to the extent any University employee whose primary appointment is non-academic creates or contributes to any copyrightable software, including any source or object code, documentation, or other copyrightable work that is part of or associated with such software, and such employee's work is within the scope of his or her employment with the University or otherwise constitutes "work made for hire" of the University in accordance with applicable law, all ownership and other rights of such employee associated with such copyrightable software shall belong to the University, without restriction, and such employee shall not be deemed the author of or have any further ownership or rights in or with respect to such copyrightable software pursuant to any other provision in this policy or otherwise. This paragraph shall not apply to any rights of any employee whose primary appointment is academic (as generally defined in University Regulation 310.020.A) or any student (unless such student is a University employee and such copyrightable software was created in the course of the student-employee's service to the University, as described above), which shall be governed by the remainder of this policy, in accordance with its terms, and applicable law.
Interpretation and Administration of Policy
1. The Patent and Copyright Committee as described in section 100.020 E. will be advisory in interpretation and future revisions of this policy. The final decision on interpretation and application of this policy shall be made by the Chancellor's designee.
2. No interpretation or application of this policy shall serve as a precedent in later cases.
3. Written agreements developed pursuant to section A.2.d. for holders of academic appointments shall first be approved by the chair, then the dean, and finally the Chancellor's designee.
4. Written agreements developed pursuant to section A.2.d. for holders of nonacademic appointments shall first be approved by the director of the unit, then the appropriate vice-chancellor, and finally the Chancellor's designee.
Ownership and Use of University Name
1. This policy should strengthen and protect the reputation and academic standing of the University and its faculty, staff, and students. Unless otherwise agreed pursuant to Section A, when the name of the University is associated with any intellectual property, other than the identification of the creator as a faculty, staff, or student of the University, the ownership shall be vested in The Curators of the University of Missouri, a public corporation, and shall display the following symbol and notice:
  © Copyright (year) by The Curators of the University of Missouri, a public corporation. If the registration of the copyright is deemed appropriate by the author(s) and department/area(s), the application for registration with the United States Copyright Office shall be processed through the TTO or other Chancellor designee.
2. Faculty, staff, other employees, students, department/areas, and schools of the University may not use the name of the University to imply University sponsorship of creative materials when there is no University sponsorship or approval and may not license or otherwise commercially exploit a course, course content or courseware whose copyright is held by the University without the approval of the appropriate dean, or on campuses with no schools or colleges, the Provost and chief academic officer as well as other signatories as indicated by the Board of Curators.
Policy on Use of Materials
1. If any of the conditions described in section A.2. are applicable and conditions of A.4. are not applicable, then subject to the following exceptions delineated in subsections D.2. - D.4., the use of materials by any unit of the University of Missouri requires approval only of the unit primarily responsible for the said materials.
2. As long as the author or producer of copyright materials remains a member of the staff of the University:
  1. The author's approval shall be required for each instance of use of the materials internal to the University other than the uses for which the materials were developed, except as allowed in the agreement between the author and the University reached pursuant to Section A.
  2. The author may require revision of the materials prior to any instance of internal University use other than the use for which the materials were developed. If the University does not accept the required revision, the author may ask that the materials be withdrawn from use. The University may assign its respective rights in such copyright to the author, subject to a written agreement between the University and the author relating to further internal or external use of materials and division of income from any subsequent use of the materials.
3. In the event that the author should cease employment with the University, the University shall retain the right to make internal use of the copyrighted materials without the author or producer's consent. In such event, the author shall retain a non-exclusive license to use the work for her/his own non-commercial, educational purposes only, but shall not have the right to distribute, sell, or sublicense the work to a third party.
4. Licensing or sale of copyrighted materials for external use shall be preceded by a written agreement between the University and author or producer specifying the conditions of use, and including provisions protecting the right of the author or producer to revise the materials periodically, or to withdraw them from use in the event revision is not made.
Payments to the Author or Producer for Production and Use of Materials Described in A.2. Herein
1. The University acknowledges that the ownership of intellectual property and the sharing of economic returns on such property are related. Therefore, when the University solely holds the intellectual property rights pursuant to section A.2., the revenues will be shared among the creators and used for the common good to support the mission of the University.
2. Payment by the University to the author or producer of intellectual property for its production normally will take place through the reduction of the author's or producer's normal work load. However, staff members on nine-month academic appointments may receive summer grants and salaries for the production.
3. Payment by the University to the author or producer of intellectual property for its internal use and revision:
  1. The author or producer of University-sponsored intellectual property materials shall not receive compensation, other than regular compensation from the University, for the normal internal use of these materials, except when such compensation is negotiated at the time of initial commission.
  2. If the use of materials by units of the University other than the unit to which the author or producer belongs involves an extension of the normal duties of the author or producer in supervising use or managing revisions, and if appropriate release time cannot be budgeted as part of the regular assigned instructional duties of the author or producer, the appropriate instruction unit of the University may recommend payment to the author or producer for revisions according to University policy on extra compensation.
4. The University with the assistance of those designated by the Chancellor in sections A.3., A.4. and B.3. and B.4. will provide appropriate services to license works covered by this policy.
  Except as set forth in subsection A.7, such revenues from copyrightable materials shall be treated in a manner consistent section 100.020 Section J with authors and their respective Campus being treated the same as Inventors. For copyrightable materials, Net Proceeds as set forth in CRR100.020.C.8, shall include an additional deduction of out-of-pocket production, distribution, related costs. The University may enter into agreements for dividing the Net Proceeds on some other basis, if special circumstances attend the production, use, or licensing of these materials.
5. The University may administer funds provided by non-University agencies (such as the Federal Government) under contract or grant to pay for staff time, services, or materials intended to produce copyrightable intellectual property. In such cases, the University may enter into agreements with such agencies recognizing their rights, in whole or part, to the ownership of the materials produced and to the net income from their use. In negotiating agreements with non-University agencies for the production, it shall be the policy of the University that the author or producer of the materials is entitled to a reasonable share of the income from use, if any, and to reasonable participation in determining the conditions of use. The University shall inform staff members applying for support from non-University agencies for the production of intellectual property materials as to the rights reserved to such agencies under the agreements required between these agencies and the University.
Protection and Liability
1. Protection -- In the event of unauthorized use of University-owned materials described in section A.2., if the University decides not to act, the author or producer may initiate action and the University shall assign to her/him such rights as are necessary for her/him to pursue redress. If such action is started by the University, acting alone or in concert with the author or producer, all costs of such action (including attorney's fees) shall be borne by the University. All proceeds shall be shared consistent with section E.4. or if there is an agreement as provided in accordance with that agreement.
2. Liability -- Before any use is made of University-owned materials described in section A.2., all authors, producers, and contributors shall warrant that they are the sole owners of their respective contributions and that the work does not infringe any copyright, violate any property rights, or contain any libelous unlawful material.

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