Ownership of Course Sites and Content

Online course content is subject to the Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures for Development of Online Instructional Materials as defined by the SF State Academic Senate. The existing policy dictates that any intellectual property associated with online instructional materials, excluding those created with "extraordinary" University support (ex: internal grants, work-for-hire, with the assistance of extra personnel, etc.), is presumed to be the exclusive property of the owner/creator. CPaGE courses created and maintained by CPaGE staff are considered work for hire and the intellectual property rights reside within CPaGE. The University may assert its rights to any intellectual property created via "extraordinary" support, but also acknowledges that creators have an equal right to assert their claims to those materials. The creator of these course materials retains the right to distribute the work, although the University retains rights to course numbers and descriptions (ex: descriptions in campus catalogs).
View the Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures, #F09-253, or view the Online an Distance Education Policy, #S23-264.

Faculty Who Separate from the University

While the University retains all rights to course numbers and descriptions (ex: descriptions in campus catalogs), the creator(s) retains the rights to distribute their work created for a course. The creator of materials is not obligated to share any part of the revenue from the potential sale or licensing of the content with the University, except as indicated in the Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures document or state or federal law.
Should an instructor become unable to continue teaching a course, another instructor may be given access to the existing course and its content, but the rights of all the online materials created by the original instructor will remain.
View the Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures, #F09-253

Process for Requesting Access to Course Shells for Departed Instructors

Administrators including department chairs or College leadership may request access to Learning Management System (LMS) course shells for the following reasons:

• An instructor is no longer affiliated with the university
• An instructor is ill, deceased, or otherwise physically unable to access LMS
• An instructor is unavailable for an extended period of time
• A student-initiated concern or dispute requires department or college facilitation

Requests for access are processed by the Academic Technology Services and must include the following:

• The name, section, and semester of the course requiring access (e.g. ART 101-01 Fall 2025)
• The name and SF State email address of the department chair or designated person (such as a replacement instructor) requiring access
• The reason for requiring access

All other access to course shells within the LMS must be granted by the instructor of the course.

Student Work

Student work submitted to the LMS courses is subject to the Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures as defined by the SF State Academic Senate. The policy dictates that student-created work is subject to the same rights assertions granted to faculty and other creators of unique work, and that students have ownership of their academic copyrightable works, including, but not limited to papers, articles, and other creative expressions.