The Cu-doped hydrogen titanate nanorods are synthesized via a hydrothermal reaction and converted into Cu-doped TiO2(B) and anatase phases by calcinations. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern do not show the presence of any other phases and thus confirmed the intrinsic ferromagnetic behavior rather than it arising from metallic clusters. The blue shifting in absorption edge and increase in photoluminescence (PL) intensity from Cu-doped hydrogen titanate to anatase phase are strongly correlated with concentration of oxygen vacancies and defect formation. The higher concentration of oxygen vacancies and/or structural defects leads to the coalescence of ferromagnetic domains, which corroborates to the observed higher magnetization value of Cu-doped anatase phase compared to other phases. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.