Copyright ownership exists initially with the author of the work. Copyright may then be transferred, in whole or in part, to other individuals or entities, such as publishers.

Joint Works: In some cases, a work may be created by more than one author. When a work is prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole, the work is considered a “joint work” under U.S. Copyright Law. The authors of a joint work are co-owners of copyright in the work.

Works made for hire: For works made for hire, it is an employer or commissioning party that is considered the author of the work. Works made for hire can arise in two ways: (1) a work is prepared by an employee within the scope of their employment or (2) the work is a specially ordered or commissioned work that falls within a limited number of permissible categories under the law, and both parties agree in writing that the work is considered a work made for hire.

Other policies impacting authorship:

U.S. Copyright law defines an “Author” for purposes of copyright. In addition, institutions may set their own internal policies to determine the scope of rights held by their employees (more detail on OSU’s Intellectual Property Policy is found below).

Many disciplines also have best practices regarding who may be listed as an author of a work for collaborators of a scientific or scholarly manuscript or creative work. The Ohio State University Authorship Guidelines may be used in defining rights, responsibilities, roles, and order of authorship.

More information:

• Copyright Services: Author’s Rights
• United States Copyright Office Circular 30: Works Made for Hire
• The Ohio State University Authorship Guidelines

The law provides a copyright owner with a number of exclusive rights. A copyright owner may do and authorize others to:

1. Reproduce the work;
2. Prepare derivative works;
3. Distribute copies of the work publicly;
4. Publicly perform the work;
5. Publicly display the work; and
6. If the work is a sound recording, publicly perform the work through digital audio transmission.

This means a copyright owner has rights over the copying, sharing, and adaption of their work. These rights, however, are limited through a number of exceptions in the law.

More information:

• Copyright Services: Author’s Rights

Section IV. of OSU’s Intellectual Property Policy establishes rules on copyright ownership of materials created by university faculty, staff, and students.

Works created by students: Students retain copyright in the works they create in a student capacity (e.g., course work, theses, or dissertations). For works created by student-employees within the scope of their employment, copyright is retained by the university.

Works created by faculty: Under the policy, copyright in Instructional works, Scholarly works, and Artistic works created by faculty members (except for software) remains with the faculty creator. The policy outlines the scope of the license granted back to the university for Instructional works created during employment at OSU. Post-doctoral research employees have the same rights as faculty in the copyrighted materials they create.

Works created by staff: Copyrighted materials created by staff that are created within the scope of the staff member’s employment are owned by the university. The policy does, however, establish a process for a limited number of staff, under certain conditions, to request that copyright be transferred to the staff creators.

Works created by more than one author (joint works): If a work meets the definition of a joint work under copyright law, ownership of each co-author is determined separately based on the type of work created and the author’s role at the university (student, faculty, or staff).

More information:

• OSU Intellectual Property Policy
• OSU Intellectual Property Policy FAQ