Who Owns a Copyrighted Work?

Generally, the person who authors a work by creating it and fixing it in a tangible mode of expression will own the copyright in the work.  If the same person were to author the work during the ordinary course of employment, then the work will be a work made for hire owned by the employer, absent any agreement to the contrary.  Thus, works created by employees of Yale University in the course of employment would by law be owned by the university.  Yale, however, has chosen to make an exception for books and other scholarly works, which are allowed to remain the property of the authors.

On the other hand, Yale retains ownership of copyright in works created as a result of tasks assigned during the course of employment.  Yale also retains copyright in works for which it has committed substantial university resources.

There may be instances in which you commission or hire someone to create original material for inclusion in a multimedia project that you are preparing.  The person creating this original material would be deemed to be the owner of the copyright in that material.  Consequently, it will be necessary to obtain a written assignment of all rights in the work, including the copyright.  Procurement of the assignment will allow you, or Yale in the case of a work made for hire, to claim copyright in the work.

For detailed information about the ownership of materials developed by Yale foreign language faculty with the support of the Center for Language Study, see the CLS's Policy on Ownership of Instructional Materials Created In the Course of CLS-Supported Projects.

Do I Need to Put a Copyright Notice on My Work?

Although there is no longer a requirement to place a copyright notice on works, it is recommended that you continue to place a notice on published or distributed copies of your copyrightable works.  The notice consists of (c) or the word "Copyright," the year the work was first published or distributed and the name of the copyright owner.  The name of the copyright owner will either be your name for works created in your individual capacity or Yale University for works made for hire created in the ordinary course of your employment at Yale.    This will put people on notice of the claim of copyright in the work.  Since use of a copyright notice remains optional, however, you can never assume that a work without a notice is not copyrighted.

Do I Need to Register My Work in the U.S. Copyright Office?   

As copyright exists at the moment the created work is fixed in a tangible form of expression, the work does not have to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as a prerequisite for copyright protection.  Registration within three months of publication of a work, however, does allow the copyright owner to seek additional forms of monetary relief in an infringement suit.  In any event, the copyright owner must obtain a registration before filing a civil action for copyright infringement.

How Do I Protect Copyrighted Works Outside the U.S.?

In general, protection of copyrighted works against infringement will be decided on the basis of the law of the country in which the infringement has occurred.  Before asserting a claim of infringement, you must first establish that you own a copyright within that country.  You can often do this by relying on an international treaty such as the Berne Convention or the Universal Copyright Convention.  Under these treaties, one treaty country will recognize the copyright of citizens of another treaty country.  For example, as owner of a U.S. copyright, you would be able to bring suit against an infringement occurring in another country that is a party to the Berne Convention.  In a country that does not belong to any treaties, you will need to establish your copyright in accordance with the laws of that country.  Once you establish your copyright ownership, your claim of infringement will also usually be decided on the basis of the copyright law of the country in which the infringement occurred.