Know Your Rights:An Overview of Author Rights

Timothy PetersDirector of Information ServicesCMU Libraries

For Starters…

As soon as something is fixed in tangible form, the creator owns the copyright. There is no need to register a work with the Copyright Office to have it protected by law (though you may still choose to do so).

For Starters…

At this point you have the exclusive right to:

Reproduce the work Distribute copies of the work Prepare derivative works Perform or display the work publicly Use the work in teaching, future publications, and other scholarly

activity Post your work to a website, in a discipline archive (such as PubMed

Central or arXiv), and in an institutional repository

But then…

Authors typically sign away these rights when they enter into a publication agreement with a journal or other publishing entity.

You Have the Right to…

…Know Your Rights

A Few Definitions

Pre-print: The original submitted paper; has not yet been through the peer review process

Post-print: Has been through the peer review process but has not yet been published

Publisher’s version/PDF: The version of record published on the publisher’s site

Publisher Contract Examples

• Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

• JAMA• Wiley Blackwell

Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

JAMA

Wiley Blackwell

You Can Ask to Modify the Contract

• It is negotiable• All they can say is no to your request• Publishers want all the rights, but all they

need is the right to first publication• They need your content to fill their journal• Addenda to the publication agreement can

help you retain some rights

SPARC Addendum

Scholar’s Copyright Addendum Engine

What Can I Do…?Before you sign on the dotted line:

Think about the possible present and future uses of your work. Does the publisher need all the rights it is seeking? Might you want to retain some rights for your own purposes? These rights can be individual and institutional.

Read the contract carefully. Be clear on what it allows you to do with your work and what it does not allow. This contract is a legally binding document.

Negotiate the terms of publication. Use an addendum if necessary..

What Can I Do?Research which publishers have the best agreements for your specific needs (Sherpa/Romeo, DOAJ)

Creative Commons publishing

Self-publishing

Thank you!

For more information -- copyright.cmich.edu

peter1t@cmich.edu