Adopted by the Vice Chancellor on behalf of National Law University Jodhpur on July 25, 2018 as the “Intellectual Property Policy”.
I. INTRODUCTION
This document describes National Law University policies and related administrative procedures for addressing issues of copyright ownership and further defines the extent of work that will receive copyright protection as belonging to the University.
It seeks to outline what works will be the sole property of the concerned author and what intellectual properties will lay with the University.
II. OBJECTIVES
• To foster free and creative expression and encourage the exchange of ideas and comment.
• To protect authors of copyrightable material.
• To preserve and protect the assets of the University.
III. SCOPE
This policy applies to members of the University and relates to copyrightable works subject to legal protection in India.
IV. DEFINED TERMS
A. University refers to National Law University, Jodhpur India.
B. Author refers to a member of National Law University, Jodhpur who authors or co-authors a copyrightable work.
C. Member refers to faculty, supporting staff, students and any individual otherwise employed by the University.
D. Student refers to a person registered or enrolled in the full-time undergraduate or postgraduate programme, a part time programme or distant education program carried out by the University.
E. Faculty refers to a person professionally qualified to carry out teaching and research at the University and is appointed as a dean, professor, assistant professor, etc. by the University.
F. Journal refers to academic journal published by the University.
G. Third Party refers to any governmental or non-governmental organisation with whom the students or faculty interact for any activity with/without consideration of cash or kind.
H. Contract for Service refers to a contract entered into by an independent contractor and the University with regards to a specific subject matter.
I. Contract of Service refers to a work created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment is a work made for hire. The employer for whom the work is made is the "author" of the work for copyright purposes and is the owner of the work's copyright (unless the employee and employer have agreed otherwise). A special right of author is implied always.
J. University Resources refers to funds, space, personnel, or facilities used to support research and scholarship, including direct funding such as gifts, contracts, grants, and University-allocated funds; laboratory space or shared research facilities; and supervision or employment, including student employment, on any such University-funded scholarship or research.
Use of classroom resources, support for educational program activities (e.g., for class projects), and library resources shall not be deemed significant use of University Resources for the purposes of this Intellectual Property Policy.
K. Plagiarism refers to an expression which is substantially similar to someone else’s work, claimed to be one’s own.
Substantial similarity will include paraphrasing another’s work and passing it off as one’s own.
V. GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT
A. Ownership of scholarly publications:
1. Intellectual property created by a member working on University research or other University projects, is owned by the University if it is created either:
(a) within the scope of University employment, including work under University grants and contracts with third parties; or
(b) with significant use of University Resources.
2. If the intellectual property is created outside the scope of University employment and without any significant use of the University Resources, the individual will own the intellectual property.
B. Use of University Resources
1. National Law University resources are to be used solely for University purposes and not for personal gain or personal commercial advantage, nor for any other non-University purposes. Therefore, if the creator of a copyrightable work makes significant use of the services of the University or University resources to create the work, an implied assignment will vest with the University over such work and the same shall be disclosed to the Vice Chancellor.
2. Clarifications about what constitutes significant use should be directed to the Intellectual Property Rights Head of Department.
C. Institutional Works
1. The University shall retain ownership of works created as institutional works. Institutional works include works that are specifically directed, commissioned or supported by a specific allocation of University funds or that are created at the direction of the University for a specific University purpose.
2. Institutional works shall include works that are integral to, and reflect more directly on, the identity of the University, rather than the identity of the individual(s) who create them. However, simply identifying the author of a book as a professor of the University or using the University logo in a presentation or talk would not be considered a prominent use of the University’s name
3. Institutional works also include works whose authorship cannot be attributed to one or a discrete number of authors but rather result from simultaneous or sequential contributions over time by multiple faculty and students.
However, the mere fact that multiple individuals have contributed to the creation of a work shall not cause the work to constitute an institutional work.
D. Ownership of student works
1. Student works, produced in the course of study (including dissertations, thesis, term papers, projects and other student authored documents), belong to the student, unless they contain Intellectual Property claimed by the University earlier.
2. Even where the work is produced with University facilities and equipment, the copyright is still owned by the student, and there is no implied licence to an instructor or supervisor for use by that person so long as there is no significant use of University Resources.
3. Where a student assists a faculty member in creating any Intellectual Property, the student and the faculty member shall be co-authors of the work, if the assistance offered by the students can be independently assessed as original.
E. Ownership of copyright in educational material created for classroom instruction.
1. All course curriculum, question papers and assignments created under the master head of the University with the specific purpose of class room instruction in accordance with University syllabi will be owned by the University.
2. However, the University recognizes and affirms that academic works such as books and articles, lectures, visual materials, and other teaching materials personally created by the faculty to aid classroom instruction are owned by the faculty member authoring them.
3. Prior to incorporating faculty works mentioned in (2) in educational resources designed for University use, consent of the concerned faculty shall be sought.
F. Contract for Service
1. In a contract for service, the University as per law is the owner of any works as created under such a contract for copyright purposes.
2. Where a work is jointly developed by a member of the University and a non-University third party, the copyright in the resulting work typically will be jointly owned by the University and the third party. In such instances, both the University and the other party would have nonexclusive rights to exploit the work, subject to the duty to account to each other.
3. Whether the University claims ownership of a work will be determined in accordance with the provisions of this policy.
G. Journal Publications
1. All authors transfer ownership of copyright with, respect to the research articles, to the journals as a part of a copyright transfer agreement.
2. However, the author preserves the right to share the article for personal use and internal institutional use in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957.
3. Author’s special rights remain with the author as per the Copyright Act, 1957.
H. Plagiarism
a. Plagiarism in works submitted by students as part of their course assessments such as projects and assignments, shall be determined on the point of substantial similarity.
b. The concerned faculty for the subject shall determine the question of substantial similarity.
c. Plagiarised expression may be open to disciplinary action on the recommendation of the concerned faculty.
VI. MISCELLANEOUS
A. Dispute Resolution
1. In case of any dispute between the University and an author arising out of this Intellectual Property policy, the concerned individual may approach the Vice Chancellor of the University to address any concerns.
2. The Vice Chancellor’s decision will be final and binding on both the University and the author of the concerned work.
B. Jurisdiction
1. This policy shall fall under the jurisdiction of the courts of Jodhpur, Rajasthan and shall be governed by appropriate laws in
