Flowchart for 2021 UC Copyright Ownership Policy

1. Academic Author?

Is the UC employee an “Academic Author”? (This term is defined as a UC employee who has a “general obligation to create copyrightable scholarly or aesthetic works.”)

2. Scholarly or Aesthetic Work?

(a) Is the copyrighted work at-issue considered a “Scholarly & Aesthetic Work”? (See definition in Section II of the policy, which states in pertinent part that “Scholarly & Aesthetic Works means all copyrightable works authored by Academic Authors within the scope of their employment as part of or in connection with their teaching, research, or scholarship.”)

3. Sponsored Work?

Is the copyrighted work at-issue a “Sponsored Work” as defined in the policy – i.e., “works created by or through the University in the direct performance of a written agreement between the University and a Sponsor”?²

² The complete definition of “Sponsored Work,” as set forth in Section II of the policy, provides:

Sponsored Works means works created by or through the University in the direct performance of a written agreement between the University and a Sponsor. Sponsored works generally do not include journal articles, lectures, books, or other works created through Independent Academic Effort and based on the findings or deliverables of the sponsored project, unless the relevant agreement with the Sponsor states otherwise.

4. Contracted Facilities Work?

Is the copyrighted work at-issue a “Contracted Facilities Work”? (See definition of this term in Section II³; see also Section III.A.6 of the policy.)

³ The definition provides:

Contracted Facilities Works means works created (1) by non-University personnel or by University personnel acting outside the course or scope of their employment, (2) through the use of University Facilities, and (3) generally pursuant to a written agreement.

5. Other Third Party Rights?

Is the copyrighted work at-issue part of a project that had specific contractual provisions on copyright ownership?

6. Personal Work?

Is the copyrighted work at-issue a “Personal Work” – i.e., outside the course or scope of their University employment and without use of Significant University Resources? (See Section III.A.2 of the policy.)

7. Joint Ownership?

(a) Were there other individuals involved in authoring or otherwise creating the copyrighted work?

8. Release of Ownership Rights to Faculty Member?

To the extent that UC has (or likely has) copyright ownership rights in the work at-issue, is the appropriate delegated authority on copyright matters willing to release UC’s ownership rights to the creator of the work?