Whether you have been awarded an Instructional Innovation Grant, have been hired to work on a CLS-commissioned project, or are collaborating with the CLS on the development of new materials in the course of your regular teaching responsibilities, there are important facts about Intellectual Property and Copyright that you should know. The following is an overview of these issues, with links to complete information and resources for you to use in developing your project.

I. Ownership, Compensation, Distribution, and Support

In accordance with Yale's copyright policy, Yale University retains ownership of materials developed with the support of CLS resources--including use of equipment, facilities, and assistance of professional staff, all of which represent a substantial commitment by the university to the development of new teaching and learning materials. If you have been paid by Yale to work on your materials, your materials are considered works made for hire, created in the course of your employment. The CLS determines the manner in which materials are distributed and supported, and you must confer with the CLS before approaching a potential publisher or making any decisions about the distribution of your materials. If materials you author are ever sold commercially, you will be paid royalties on them in accordance with CLS policy. If you leave Yale, you may use your materials with your students at another institution, though Yale retains ownership of the materials.

If you plan to create materials with the support of the CLS or will be paid for your work on instructional materials, you should read the CLS's Policy on Ownership of Instructional Materials Created In The Course of CLS Supported Projects for important answers to questions about ownership and compensation.

II. Reproducing the Works of Others In Developing New Materials

Any time you create materials for use by your students, there are several kinds of copyright-related considerations you must bear in mind. Though CLS staff members are available to provide advice and guidance in this area, it is your responsibility as a faculty member to ensure appropriate use of copyrighted materials.

Before deciding to incorporate another's work in your materials, you should assume that the work is copyrighted. Unless the work is shown to be in the public domain, copying can occur only if permission has been obtained from the owner of the work or if it constitutes fair use.

A. Obtaining Permission to Reproduce Copyrighted Works

You should begin at a preliminary stage of a project to determine what materials are copyrighted and require permission for reproduction. Create an inventory listing each element of the project and identifying parts of the materials reproduced from third party sources.

Use this Permission Spreadsheet (Excel format) to track your inventory.

Once you have identified which works require permission, begin contacting owners of the works. Take care to document the efforts you make to obtain the consent of the copyright owner, particularly if you are unable to obtain permission and decide to reproduce the work anyway. A permission or consent should be in writing, such as a letter from you setting forth the terms of the consent and countersigned and agreed to by the party granting the consent.

The Sample Forms section of the CLS Copyright Handbook contains a sample permission letter.

B. Fair Use Copying

While use of copyrighted materials for education/classroom purposes without express consent of the copyright owner can be permissible as "fair use," this concept is very subjective in its application. Rather than offering black and white pronouncements as to permissible and impermissible copying, we suggest that you assess the need for permission and the risks in going forward without permission. To read more about a variety of factors that have resulted in findings of fair use, consult the CLS Copyright Handbook.

C. Always Give Credit to the Copyright Owner

Whenever copyrighted materials are reproduced with or without the permission of the copyright owner, they should be accompanied by an acknowledgment identifying the owner of the work. Whenever possible, the credit or acknowledgement should be placed in proximity to the reproduced work or, at the very least, in a position reasonably likely to provide notice to those who use the materials. In the same way that good scholarship requires you to cite the source of an item that you find through research and include in your written work, you must credit the property of others that you include in your multimedia materials. This includes text, audio, video, and images, no matter the source.

III. Copyright Assignments and Releases

If you commission or hire someone to create original material for inclusion in your project, that person would usually be considered the owner of the copyright in that material. It will be necessary to obtain a written assignment of all rights in the original material, including copyright.

If your multimedia project incorporates the name and likeness of individuals, such as in videotaped interviews, it will be necessary to obtain a release consenting to use of each individual's name and likeness. On the other hand, merely incidental display of an individual in a multimedia project should not require a release.

The Sample Forms section of the CLS Copyright Handbook contains sample assignment and release forms.

IV. More Information

The CLS Copyright Handbook includes further discussion of the issues of ownership and use of copyrighted materials, as well as answers to common questions and links to other useful websites. It is important reading for any faculty who are creating materials with the support of the CLS.

For more information, consult your Faculty Liaison at the CLS, or contact Howard Barnaby, Program Coordinator at the CLS (howard.barnaby@yale.edu).

Additional information regarding Yale University copyright policy is available through the Office of Cooperative Research (http://www.yale.edu/ocr).