Patents and Copyrights

The same standards for use of copyrighted material, and ownership of copyrights apply to products and to technical reports, when the product is one to which these standards can be logically applied.
General
 — No copyrighted material, except that which falls under the “fair use” clause, may be incorporated into a report without permission from the copyright owner, if the copyright owner requires such. Prior use of the material in a TxDOT or governmental publication does not necessarily constitute permission to use it in a later publication.
As applicable, copyrighted material used in a report shall be accompanied by a statement as follows:
  • Courtesy
     — acknowledgment or credit will be given by footnote, bibliographic reference, or a statement in the text for use of material contributed or assistance provided, even when a copyright notice is not applicable.
  • Caveat for Unpublished Work
     — some material may be protected under common law or equity even though no copyright notice is displayed on the material. Credit will be given and permission will be obtained as appropriate.
  • Proprietary Information
     — to avoid restrictions on the availability of reports, proprietary information will not be included in reports, unless it is critical to the understanding of a report and prior approval is received from RTI. Reports containing such proprietary information will contain a statement on the Technical Report Documentation Page restricting availability of the report.