Copyright Policy

1. General: Gustavus Adolphus College is committed to providing an environment that supports the teaching and research activities of its faculty, students, and staff. As a matter of principle and practice, the College encourages all members of the Gustavus community to publish without restriction their papers, books and other forms of communication in order to share openly and fully their findings and knowledge with colleagues and the general public. The Copyright Policy is intended to promote and encourage excellence and innovation in scholarly research and teaching by identifying and protecting the rights of the College, its faculty, staff, and students.

Copyright ownership and the rights thereto are concepts defined by federal law. College policy is structured within the context of the Federal Copyright Law. The long-standing academic tradition that creators of works own the copyright resulting from their research, teaching, and writing is the foundation of the College’s Copyright Policy. Exceptions to this rule may result from contractual obligations, from employment obligations, from certain uses of College facilities, or by agreement governing access to certain College resources. This Policy addresses these exceptions.

2. Copyrightable Material: The following types of material may be subject to copyright: books, journal articles, texts, bibliographies, study guides, laboratory manuals, syllabi, tests, proposals, lectures, musical or dramatic compositions, unpublished scripts, films, film strips, charts, transparencies, and other visual aids, video and audio tapes and cassettes, live video or audio broadcasts, programmed instruction materials, and computer programs. Other material may also be subject to copyright.

3. Ownership: It is traditional at Gustavus and other colleges and universities for books, articles and other copyrightable materials by a faculty or staff member to be deemed the property of the creator, who is considered to be entitled to determine how the works are to be disseminated and to keep any income they produce. In recognition of that long-standing practice, the College disclaims ownership of works by faculty, staff, and students, except in the following cases:a. Assigned Tasks: Ownership of copyrightable material developed as a result of assigned College duty resides with Gustavus Adolphus College.

Comment: Computer software developed by an employee of Administrative Computing or Information Technology falls within this category. A faculty publication does not. Developing and giving lectures is an assigned duty for a faculty member; publishing these lectures is not. The Copyright Policy, and in this particular section 3(a), also applies to a consultant who receives payment from Gustavus.

This section does not apply to books written, or other material produced, on campus or off, during a term of teaching, vacation, sabbatical, or faculty fellowship, with normal use of office space, library, and computer resources, but with no other direct College assistance.

b. Outside Agreements: When copyrightable material is developed through a sponsored grant or contract, the special provisions contained in that grant or contract must prevail. In the absence of such special provisions, the normal College policy applies.

c. Significant Use of Gustavus-Administered Resources: When the development of copyrightable materials is significantly assisted by the use of College facilities, resources, or personnel, the College is entitled to a share of any royalty income pursuant to this Policy. For these purposes, significant use is the use of resources other than those “ordinarily available” to most or all faculty, staff, or students. Such ordinarily available resources include office space, personal office equipment, office computer workstations, library and other general-use information resources, and the means of network access to such resources. Textbooks developed in conjunction with class teaching are excluded from the significant use category, unless such textbooks were developed using Gustavus-administered funds paid specifically to support textbook development. Incidental involvement of students receiving funding from the College is also excluded from the definition of “significant use.”

d. Patentable Works: Where a copyrighted work is also patentable (e.g., computer programs), the College Patent Policy will apply to it, assuming the owner of the patent takes affirmative steps to apply for a patent.

4. Students: The provisions of this Copyright Policy are made applicable to students, especially as they relate to section 3(a) above, assigned tasks, as a condition of their enrollment.

Comment: Students hired to perform specific tasks that contribute to a copyrightable work will ordinarily have no rights to ownership of that work. On the other hand, students working collaboratively with academic employees on projects that result in copyrightable work may be granted the same rights and obligations as would another academic employee working collaboratively on the project.

5. Division and Use of Income of College-Owned Works:

a. Any income that the College receives from a licensing, sale, lease, or other use of copyrighted works owned by Gustavus pursuant to this Copyright Policy will be distributed in accordance with the royalty distribution provisions of the College’s Patent Policy.

b. The portion of income not paid to the creator or creators of a work will be used as determined by the College in its sole discretion. Gustavus will ordinarily use that portion of income for the purpose of research or scholarly activity, with preference being given to the field in which the work was generated.

6. Administration and Resolution of Disputes:

a. The Copyright Policy will be administered by the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs regarding works created by academic employees. The Dean shall establish and appoint an Intellectual Property Committee, which will serve at his or her pleasure. The function of the Committee shall be to advise and recommend to the Dean with respect to the College’s ownership of particular copyrights and patents, and such other matters as the Dean may deem appropriate. The Vice President for Finance will administer this Policy as it relates to non-academic employees.

b. Disputes concerning application of the Policy as it relates to academic employees will be resolved by a review panel of three members: a representative of the author, a person designated by the Vice President for Finance, and a third person selected by the Faculty Senate. When disputes about the application of the Policy involve non-academic employees, the review panel will consist of the following three members: a representative of the author, a person designated by the President, and a third person selected by the Faculty Senate. The decision of a review panel may be appealed by any member of the panel to the President of the College.