Copyrights and Royalties

I. Copyrights and Royalties

Materials Produced by Employees in Scope of Employment
All work performed by Maryville employees, be they full or part-time, faculty or staff, in which they are duly paid either through salary or stipend, belongs to the University. This includes copyrightable, patentable or commercially valuable materials produced as part of their job duties in the course and scope of their Maryville employment.

Materials Produced by Others
Section 107 of the Federal Copyright Law revision of 1978 provides that “fair use” of copyrighted work is not an infringement of copyright. The four statutory criteria to determine fair use are:

  • The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational use;
  • The nature of the copyrighted work;
  • The amount of substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  • The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
    Employees, including supervisors of University work-study students, using copyrighted material created by others are responsible for determining its copyright status and should obtain written permission from the copyright owner before using the material except when the “fair use” criteria stated above are met. A copyright booklet shall be posted at all photocopiers.

Incorporation of Employee’s Previously Copyrighted Materials for Online Course Development
If content developed pursuant to this policy incorporates material previously developed by the employee for which the employee already has a copyright, or is a derivative work of such previously copyrighted materials owned by the employee, the employee will grant the University a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to make copies of the intellectual property owned by the employee and to use such property in teaching, scholarship and research in context of online course development pursuant to this policy. Such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The University will credit the employee in the development of these materials unless the employee provides reasonable advance notice to the University that credit should not be given.

Computer Software
All rights to, and royalties from, computer software, including computer programs, computer data bases, and associated documentation (herein “computer software”), whether copyrightable or patentable, produced by employees as part of their job duties or responsibilities, in the course and scope of their Maryville employment with the use of Maryville facilities or materials, shall belong to Maryville regardless of the source of funds used to produce the computer software.
Copying of computer software is subject to the published copyright and licensing agreements provided with the purchase of all software.

Work Produced as part of job duties or responsibilities
All copyrightable, patentable or commercially valuable material and related revenue produced by employees as part of their job duties or responsibilities, in the course of their Maryville employment shall belong to Maryville regardless of the source of funds used to produce the material and related revenue.

Changes in Copyright or Creative Works Policies
Copyright and patent law is a constantly changing area of expertise. Due to changes in the laws which may occur, this policy may undergo revision from time-to-time to adapt to the legislative changes or differing interpretations of the laws. All faculty and staff shall receive updated information on changes as they occur from the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

II. Sale of Employee-Created Materials to University Students

Faculty and staff members often create materials in which they hold commercial interests and which might be used in courses or programs which the faculty or staff member is teaching or administering for the University. Faculty or staff members may require students to purchase materials in which the faculty or staff member holds a commercial interest for courses taught or programs administered by that faculty or staff member. In this situation, however, the faculty or staff member shall assign all income rights for all the materials sold to the University. Any income thus received shall be placed in a special fund which shall then be made available by application to faculty and staff members in order to promote research, publication, or other creative works. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall be responsible for the management and disbursement of such funds.