The University of South Alabama has a copyright policy. USA is not alone: universities often develop copyright policies to create a common understanding about what copyright is, since copyright law is far from intuitive. Such policies are useful to ensure consistency and fairness. Also, several sections of the copyright law require a relevant institutional policy in order to qualify for a statutory safe harbor, such as those found in the TEACH Act or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Many institutions retain the copyright for works created under the direction of, or with substantial support from, the institution. As an illustration, works created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment are considered to be a "work for hire," aka "work made for hire," (see 17 U.S.C. § 101 for a definition), and it is well settled in the copyright law of the United States that the employer (as commissioner of the work) retains copyright ownership of the copyright.
