Publication Costs and Copyright Ownership
If the work a University of California (UC) employee (generally a faculty member) is publishing is academic in nature and the publication costs are $5,000 or less, the university can pay these costs under the following conditions:
- The faculty member retains copyright ownership.
- The faculty member signs any applicable publisher or author contracts directly with the publishing company.
- The university is not a party to that contract.
However, if there is a potential for marketable or commercializable content within the work, the university may retain its right to intellectual property (IP) ownership. In these cases, please contact the Technology & Industry Alliances (TIA) office to discuss the appropriate ownership structure before proceeding.