Copyright on site content and text is held by the authors and editors who have contributed to it. The NUWPArc website and its text, images, recordings and other content are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. Content also may be subject to other legal interests, such as rights of publicity. Some of the contents may be protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and/or by privacy and/or publicity rights. Any other use requires permission of Northeastern University.

Any published work using materials from NUWPArc must cite the archive and, when applicable, the author(s) of the original materials.

Materials are available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The written permission of the copyright owner(s) and/or other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. It is the obligation of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright and other restrictions.

NUWPArc does not own reproduction rights for the original documents stored in its collections and cannot give or deny permission to publish or copy them. Requests should be directed to Northeastern University as the hosting institution. While copyright resides with the University, intellectual property rights of individual authors and contributors are respected, and permissions have been sought in applicable instances to ensure ethical compliance of publicly available materials.

Syllabi and other course materials may, under no circumstances, be downloaded and reproduced or uploaded to course-specific or “study resource” sites (e.g. Course Hero) without explicit permission and consent of the original authors. Digital records included in NUWPArc reserve the copyright restrictions that are specified in the record for each object where applicable. The records for individual items clearly state copyright information and restrictions on use when they are known. Users are responsible for determining if their use qualifies under fair use or if they need to secure permissions from copyright holders. Where applicable, each collection within NUWPArc’s public holdings has a condition of use section.

You may not sell, rent, or otherwise post downloaded content acquired from use of NUWPArc without prior written consent. All content used for research purposes that results in subsequent publication must be appropriately cited and attributed and, if applicable, linked in digital publication to the original digital object record on NUWPArc.

You may not use NUWPArc in any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise harmful, including, but not limited to, displaying content in a manner that violates any applicable laws, statutes, or regulations, infringes or violates any other person or entity’s rights, or that NUWPArc, in its sole discretion, finds to be obscene or defamatory.

Under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. sec. 102, federal statutory copyright exists in “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” These works include: written or printed works such as books, journal articles, poems, manuals, memoranda, syllabi, bibliographies, tests, computer programs, computer-driven displays, programmed instructional material and databases.

At Northeastern University, the initial ownership of a work, like a syllabus, may reside in the author(s) or a sponsoring entity, which in this case is the University. The copyright ownership is also determined in accordance with the terms of such agreement. In the absence of such terms, all works created or developed by University faculty, staff or other employee within the scope of their employment shall be considered a ‘work made for hire’ within the meaning of the Copyright Act and copyright ownership thereof shall reside in the University.

The rights of copyright are subject to certain defined limitations and exceptions, including, but not limited to, the right of others to make ‘fair use,’ as defined by the Act, of a copyrighted work. ‘Fair use’ includes the reproduction of portions of the copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research.

The use of syllabi within the Writing Program, for this archive, is considered a fair use because we are using them for the purposes of research and teaching.

Relevant further Reading

• Northeastern University’s Policy
• Who Owns Your Syllabus?

Many of the syllabi in our collection were created by people who are still alive, and all identifying information has been anonymized where requested and shared under fair use and with permission following contact with the original authors. An ‘opt-in or opt-out’ choice has been provided to individuals represented in NUWPArc’s records in support of fairness and ethical practice in use of syllabi and program records. Individuals currently at Northeastern University and/or still living have been duly notified to ensure that they are comfortable with the information available and are invited to have any digital object removed that they do not want published.

Request that an object be removed from the public site at any time by emailing nuwparc@gmail.com with a link to the object you would like removed along with claim of ownership. Similarly, if there is a record that contains sensitive personal information that you would like to have redacted or removed, let us know, and we will redact/remove the record from our public holdings.

We have been diligent in seeking permissions and consent, and we have redacted personal information in many of our public records as requested or in attending to privacy considerations; however, we are human, and sometimes we make mistakes. If you notice a misstep in one of our records, we are happy to redact/remove the record upon request.