Laws, policies, and guidelines

This page collects the key sources of law and policy that govern your creation and use of in-copyright works at the University.

Law

US Copyright Law

Complete text of Title 17 – the current US copyright law.

University Policies and Guidelines

GOV-005: Adherence to Copyright Protections

Articulates Copyright law requirements to faculty, staff, and students in order to comply with the Copyright Act.

Copyright Policy for Virginia.edu

Describes ownership of content on “Virginia.edu” domains, and standards for posting and removing materials from UVA websites.

RES-001: Ownership Rights in Copyrightable Material

UVA’s copyright ownership policy governs “work for hire” created by university employees, including “scholarly and academic works produced by academic and research faculty.” The policy cedes copyright ownership in scholarly and academic works to their authors in most cases, but reserves a non-exclusive license to make non-profit use of such works.

Faculty Senate Open Access Guidelines

An overview of the Faculty Senate’s Open Access Guidelines, with links to relevant repositories and FAQs.

Guidance for the Adoption of Open Educational Resources

A Quick Guide from the Office of the Vice President and Provost to help UVA teachers interested in adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) for use in their courses. OERs use open copyright licenses to make resources more affordable, customizable, and accessible for faculty and students.

Undergraduate and Graduate Records

Updated annually, these collections of university regulations for students contain university policy on a variety of copyright-related topics, including: Adherence to Copyright ProtectionsRecording of Classroom Lectures and Distribution of Course Materials by StudentsStudents’ Rights and Responsibilities (including rights of free expression and association), Student Intellectual PropertyUse of University Information Technology ResourcesUse of the University Libraries, and Use of the University’s Federally Registered Trademark. Links here to specific elements of the Record may point to archived versions of previous years’ record. Check the heading of the page to ensure you are looking at the most current version of policy, which can be selected from a drop down menu on the Record homepage.

Library Policies and Guidelines

Copyright Essentials for Scholarly Work

A bullet-point overview of the key copyright rules and concepts that govern using, making, and publishing scholarly work.

UVA Special Collections: Permissions and Publication

Policies and guidance on publishing material found in the Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library at UVA.

Use of the University of Virginia WSLS Film Archive

Guidelines for use of materials from the archive of WSLS videos.

Libra Collections Policy

Complete description of material eligible for deposit into the UVA institutional repository, Libra.

Copyright Guidelines for Classroom Sharing, including Scanning and Delivery of Books 

UVA Library guidelines for faculty who wish to use library materials in course reserves.

Web Stewardship, Web Responsibilities

UVA General Counsel Memorandum on copyright responsibilities of web publishers and website owners. (09/25/2009)

UVA Information Security (InfoSec) Office Policies and Procedures

Information Policy Library

A central repository for all UVA information technology (IT) resource policies, standards, and procedures.

Copyrights of Digital Materials and Software Standard

States the University’s commitment to lawful use of software and digital materials.

Copyrights of Digital Materials and Software Procedures

Describes the University’s procedures for responding to allegations of copyright infringement.