Introduction

Using a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other contract or formal agreement between you, the publisher, and the author is very important. Not only will it clarify expectations, but it may surface questions about who owns the copyright and what faculty union/bargaining agreements may allow at your institution.

In this video, Meredith Jacob, Assistant Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, and Public Lead, Creative Commons USA, Washington College of Law, talks about the benefits of using a contract. These include clarifying roles, expectations and timelines among everyone involved. She recommends a contract regardless of whether money is changing hands.

Office Hours: MOUs, Contracts and Agreements by Rebus Community on YouTube (CC BY)

Adaptable OER Publishing Agreement

The Adaptable OER Publishing Agreement (CC BY) was designed to be a starting point for higher education institutions that want to contract with their faculty to create OER. It was developed in a way that makes it easy for institutions to edit the agreement to meet their own campus intellectual property policy requirements. Creative Commons USA, the Rebus Community, and the Open Textbook Network worked together to create this document.

You will want to work with your general counsel on intellectual property questions related to the contract. With that in mind, you may want to prepare an introduction to Creative Commons, as they may not be familiar with open licensing and open education.

Additional Resources

Contracts, including for a variety of roles, Self-Publishing Guide, BCcampus
Memorandum of Understanding Collection, University of Texas Arlington
MOU for The Oklahoma State University Library OER Initiative
Open Textbook Agreement from Portland State University Library