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UCLA Registrar's Office

Class notes or recordings made by students must be for study or other noncommercial purposes only.

Class notes or recordings made by students are for purposes of individual or group study or for other noncommercial purposes reasonably arising from a student’s enrollment in a class or the University. Permission to make notes or recordings is at the instructor’s discretion after taking into consideration instructional goals, classroom order, property interests, or other reasonable issues arising in the academic context. Students currently enrolled in a course may provide a copy of their own notes or recordings to other currently enrolled students for non-commercial purposes reasonably arising from participation in the course, including individual or group study. Notes and recordings may not be exchanged or distributed for commercial purposes, compensation, or any other purpose other than study, either between students or between students and a third party. Unless authorized in advance by the University and explicitly permitted by the instructor, commercial use of class notes or recordings constitutes unauthorized commercial activity in violation of University policy per the UCLA Regulations on Activities, Registered Campus Organizations, and Use of Properties.

No student may give, sell, or otherwise distribute to others or publish any recording made during any class presentation without the written consent of the University and the instructor/presenter. This policy applies to any recording in any medium, including handwritten or typed notes and video or audio recordings of any class. Any distribution of a recording of a class presentation at UCLA that captures actual sounds and/or images of that class presentation, in any medium, must consider not only the rights of the instructor and the University, but also those of other parties. Examples include the privacy rights of students enrolled in the class, rights of guest lecturers, and copyright interests in materials authored by others that are displayed or presented during the class presentation. In addition to University and instructor/presenter consent, it may be necessary to secure permission from these other parties before any recording, distribution, publication, or communication is legally permitted.

The unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of academic materials, including but not limited to recordings, by a student is a violation of the UCLA Student Conduct Code, whether or not it was the student or someone else who prepared the materials. Students who violate this policy are subject to University discipline (see Student Conduct Code section 102.23). Copying for any commercial purpose handouts, readers, or other course materials provided by an instructor as part of a University of California course is prohibited, unless authorized by the University in advance and explicitly permitted by the course instructor, and the copyright holder in writing (if the instructor is not the copyright holder).

Nothing in this policy precludes instructors from posting class lecture notes, which they prepare or authorize to be prepared, on their class websites. Students who are permitted by the instructor to view the lecture notes are reminded that class note-taking policies and prohibitions apply to notes or lectures posted on class websites.

In addition to University policy, the California Education Code prohibits unauthorized commercial use of class notes, and the California Civil Code sets forth civil penalties, and legal and financial remedies, for violation of state law. The prohibition applies to recordings made in any medium, including but not necessarily limited to handwritten or typewritten class notes.