ATTACHMENT TO: AS-2348-96/AA (Rev.) - JOINT CREATION OF A WORK

If two or more instructors jointly created the work, that fact alone shall not change the determination of ownership or control with respect to the university, provided that the two instructors are at the same institution or are at institutions with the same policy regarding ownership of new works. It is actually quite common for colleagues at different institutions to create a work jointly, only to discover that one institution allows the instructor to hold the rights, while the other institution's policy requires assignment or a sharing of rights. Faculty members should investigate policies at their institutions before embarking on new projects.

In the less complicated case of joint creation where the instructors retain rights, the two or more individuals jointly hold the copyright privileges, and each may exercise any of them. Any one of the owners may, for example, reproduce the work or authorize others to make copies. Permission from one of the owners is legally sufficient to make uses of the work. But the joint owners must remain responsible to one another. Hence, one owner may grant broad rights of use to a third party, but a co-owner may object. Each joint owner is liable to the others for the consequences of his or her actions. The most practical advice for the management of jointly held works is to secure agreement from all owners, especially for major transactions or if any suspicion of disagreement exists among the owners.