Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Protection is available to both published and unpublished works, but the work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The owner of the copyright is given the exclusive right:
- to make copies
- to create derivative works based upon the work
- to distribute the work to the public
- to perform or display the work publicly
- for sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of digital audio transmission
(Information from Copyright Basics, Circular 1,
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html) All undergraduate and graduate student work is protected under intellectual property law. Students own all rights to their papers, responses to assignments and tests, and final program papers and materials, whether in written or electronic form. The university retains no ownership in a student’s work created as part of a university course.
Students with exemplary work may be asked to provide consent to the university for use of their work in a program library. The university may use student work only when written consent is provided by the student and all identifiable student information is removed from the work.
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