Your Rights as a Scholarly Author: Negotiation and Strategy

Copyright on Campus video education/resources/copyright_on_campus.html

VU’s Copyright Policy Policy currently under review; new policy will be vetted by Faculty Senate in Fall 2012 VU’s Guide to Copyright Includes link to Campus Copyright Rights and Responsibilities: A Basic Guide to Policy Considerations

Today’s Objectives 1.Rick Anderson’s presentation 2.Authors’ Rights / Joint Authorship 3.Exclusive Rights of Copyright Owners 4.Negotiations with Publishers 5.Resources and Tools for Faculty Authors 6.Using Creative Commons Licenses 7.Questions and Discussion

Unsustainability of current scholarly publishing model You/university provide salary, time, equipment, etc. for your research You/university give this research away for free to publisher –In print environment, for peer review and costs associated with print production of journal –In electronic environment, for peer review and electronic access to content Publisher then charges university/library to get access to your research, which has already been paid for Publisher raises costs for access to this research on a yearly basis, well above the CPI, and depending on type of access.

Disclaimer I am not an attorney, and cannot offer legal advice. The following information is presented to educate about copyright law and institutional policy in general terms. If you are unclear about your options when confronted with a specific legal issue related to copyright, you are urged to consult with an attorney with a background in copyright law.

Author Defined Under copyright law, the creator of the original expression in a work is its author. The author is also the owner of copyright unless and until there is a written agreement by which the author assigns the copyright to another person or organization, such as a publisher.

Joint Authors  A joint work is a work prepared by two or more individuals, with the intention that their separate contributions be merged into a single work.  Under copyright law, absent an agreement to the contrary, jointly created works are owned by the authors jointly and equally. If you and your co-authors see things differently, you should detail the difference in writing, and all co- authors should sign it.

Exclusive Rights of the Copyright Holder, aka the “Bundle of Rights”  Make copies of the work  Make derivative works based on the original work  Distribute the work  Perform the work publicly  Display the work in a commercial setting The copyright owner may license some or all of these rights to others.

Transferring Copyrights Copyrights can be bought, sold, willed to others, or given away. A transfer of the copyright or an exclusive grant or license to use the work is a transaction that must be conveyed in writing. This happens to some degree every time you sign a publishing agreement.

The Digital Revolution changed everything* *except the copyright law  Copyright controls “copying” and “copies” of creative expression  Every use in digital environment creates a “copy”  Every use potentially implicated or controlled by copyright  The law is simple, but our digital world is complex.

Did You Know… If you sign over your copyright you could be required to ask permission…  To post your own work on your website  To contribute your own work to your university’s institutional repository  To digitally archive your own work  To share your own work with others  To allow others to use your own work

Negotiating with Publishers  If your work is accepted for publication, you will be presented with a Publishing Agreement or Author’s Agreement to sign.  Some agreements will reference other documents, such as an “Author’s Rights” statement on the publisher’s website, which provide more detail on the rights the publisher grants to authors.  Read these agreements carefully and consider your options before you sign. Like any contract, an author’s agreement is open to negotiation. Many authors have retained some or all of their copyrights by altering the agreement before signing. The only right that a publisher really needs from you is the “right of first publication.” The library is very willing to go over any author’s agreement with you and determine what rights are guaranteed and what rights you need to negotiate for.  You are not guaranteed to succeed, but publishers are increasingly willing to accommodate author requests to modify the Author’s agreement.

The terms of every author’s agreement are not standard throughout the publishing industry Though many other large publishers offer similar exceptions, every publisher’s Author’s agreement and Author’s Rights statement will vary. Some publishers have different Author’s Rights for different journal titles Many publishers demand full transfer of copyright, and then assign certain rights back to the authors. Some allow authors to retain copyright fully. Read the agreement carefully and decide if its terms are appropriate for you – if not, ask for what you want.

Tools that can help A few websites can help you find the language you need within your author agreements

The SPARC Author Addendum

The Science Commons Addendum Engine / /

What You CAN Do Retain Your Copyright Discuss Authors’ Rights with your colleagues and the library Negotiate with Publishers to retain control over scholarly communication. Your library liaison and/or the Dean of Library Services will work with you on this Deposit a copy of your article into Valparaiso University’s institutional repository, ValpoScholar, Even better, publish through ValpoScholar. Free your work (exactly as much as you like) through a Creative Commons license

Key VU Library Contacts Dr. Brad Eden Jon Bull

Questions?? Thanks for your time!