Copyright Issues

Pauline SimpsonHead of Information Services

Southampton Oceanography Centre(with acknowledgement to Morag Greig, Univ Glasgow)

OdinPubAfrica Training LUC Belgium 23-24 Feb 2005

Disclaimer

• This presentation does not constitute legal advice

• Information Managers are not Lawyers

Copyright Law

• What laws and regulations, cover copyright in your country?

_________________________________________________

• UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

• The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 SI 2003 No. 2498 –

• which implements Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. Came into force on 31 October 2003.

Scholarly Communication

• journals are the primary research publication channel

• journal publishing is dominated by commercial ventures– A vicious circle :

• Researchers write papers for journals (free or page charges!)• Researchers transfer copyright to publishers (free)• Researchers on Editorial Boards (free)• Researchers act as Reviewers of papers

BUT• Libraries pay huge subscriptions to publishers to access the

paper and universities pay more than once: subscription, photocopying license and for study packs

• Or possibly cannot afford the subscription

IRs, publishers and copyright

• Publishers generally require authors to sign some sort of ‘copyright transfer agreement’ or ‘license to publish’ agreement prior to the publication of articles in journals, books etc.

• Each publisher has their own agreement, and so the rights that are retained will vary. Some of the rights that may be required to sign over to the publisher are:

– The right to reuse an article as a chapter in a book – The right to revise or adapt an article – The right to distribute an article to colleagues – The right to reproduce copies of an article for teaching purposes – The right to self archive/make available an article in an online

repository

Journal publishers and copyright

• If a publisher does not permit the author to retain these rights then an author may not do any of these things automatically. However, authors/librarians may be able to seek permission from the publisher.

• Some publishers (particularly "open access" publishers) do not require authors to sign a copyright assignment form. Instead they ask authors to sign a non-exclusive license to publish and allow authors to retain copyright.

Author’s attitudes to copyright agreements

• General lack of awareness of what they have signed and the consequences

• Fear they will not get published if they don’t sign

• Preference for information managers to check copyright agreements for them

• Changing attitudes - balance between informing and dictating

• Do not want to upset the status quo

• IR deposit is a threat to Peer Review

Copyright : FAQs

• Who owns the copyright of my article? • What rights might I be signing away to publishers? • Am I required to sign copyright agreements as they stand? Can I make

changes to an agreement or offer an alternative agreement? • Is a “license to publish” any different from a traditional copyright

agreement? • How can I find out which publishers have “open” copyright agreements? • Do publishers need copyright agreements to publish? • Pre-prints/self-archiving ? will publishers still be willing to publish my

article if I have made a pre-print available in a subject or institutional repository?

• If a publisher has changed its policy since my article was published does the new policy apply retrospectively?

• Where can I find out more?

Who owns the copyright of my article?

• Articles not yet submitted to a journal:– currently the author retains copyright

(does your organization assert copyright in respect of research related materials?).

• Articles that have already been published:– in most cases the author will have signed an agreement

transferring copyright to the publisher.

• Articles published under commission or contract: – the copyright belongs to the commissioning organization

unless an agreement has been signed retaining copyright

What rights might I be signing away to publishers?

• This will vary depending on the agreement, but as a guide traditional copyright agreements have not allowed authors to:

– Reuse an article as a chapter in a book – Revise or adapt an article – Distribute an article to colleagues – Reproduce copies of an article for teaching purposes

– Self archive/make available an article in an repository

Am I required to sign copyright agreements as they stand? Can I make changes to an agreement or offer an alternative agreement?

• Most publishers will be willing to discuss copyright agreements with authors. Obviously they may simply refuse to publish an article if an author is unwilling to sign a copyright agreement as it stands. However, publishers may be willing to accept a license that you have amended. They may also be willing to accept an alternative agreement.

• A number of publishers are now starting to offer "License to publish" agreements as an alternative to "Copyright Transfer" agreements, and often these are more liberal and may permit authors to deposit their papers in institutional repositories.

For example: • Licence to Publish Agreement by Wiley

License to Publish

Is a "license to publish" any different from a traditional copyright agreement?

• In many respects such agreements are no different.

• However, they may give authors a number of rights which were not permitted under previous copyright transfer agreements.

• Author retains more rights eg self archive

Copyright Transfer Form – additional text

• Authors can add text to Copyright Forms

• "I hereby transfer to [publisher or journal] all rights to sell or lease the text (on paper and online) of my paper [paper title]. I retain only the right to distribute it free for scholarly/scientific purposes, in particular the right to self-archive it publicly online on the Web."

• Often the publisher accepts the text or returns a ‘license to publish’ form

How can I find out which publishers have "open" copyright agreements?

• Many publishers make their copyright agreements available on their web sites. Most agreements make it clear what rights authors are permitted to retain. If this is not the case it is best to contact the publisher directly.

• You can also consult the list of publishers copyright policies and policies on self-archiving maintained by the SHERPA Romeo database. Note that this list is not comprehensive, and it may not include information on the publisher you are interested in. However, it provides a useful way of seeing at a glance which publishers have open copyright agreements.

Publishers Copyright Policies

• Publishers Copyright policies database http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php

• Publishers who permit self archiving – dynamic search http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php?colour=green

• Journals Copyright Policies

http://romeo.eprints.org/stats.php.

Exercise

• Who are the core publishers in Marine Science

• How many of them permit deposit of the post print (post refereed pre journal version) in an Institutional Repository?

• Do any of them permit the journal version pdf to be deposited

• Publishers Copyright policies http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php

• Publishers who permit self archiving – dynamic search http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php?colour=green

• Journals Copyright Policies http://romeo.eprints.org/stats.php.

Marine Science Publishers

• Elsevier• American Meteorological Society• AGU• Taylor and Francis• Wiley• Inter Research• Royal Society• Geological Society of America• Springer• Kluwer• Learned societies?

Do publishers need copyright agreements to publish?

• Publishers give a variety of reasons for asking

authors to assign copyright. – Main one is copyright protection!– Deal with reproduction permissions

• However, open access publishers do not require authors to assign copyright so it is possible for articles to be published without copyright being assigned.

Open Access Journals

• The Directory of Open Access Journals lists "free, full text, quality controlled scientific

and scholarly journals by title and by subject".– Lund University

• http://www.doaj.org/

Exercise

• Look in Directory of Open Access Journals http://www.doaj.org/

• Are there any marine related Open Access Journals?

Will publishers still be willing to publish my article if I have made it available in a subject or institutional repository?

• This varies depending on the publisher. Many publishers make it a condition of publication that they will not consider any article which has already been made publicly available.

• Some publishers specify that making a work

available in a repository constitutes "prior publication". eg AGU

• If in doubt check with the publisher directly.

If a publisher has changed its policy since my article was published does the new policy apply retrospectively?

• Some publishers have changed their policies and extended the new rights to all authors regardless of when their papers were published. If it is unclear if new rights are to be applied retrospectively it may be necessary to contact the publisher to check if this is the case.

Are there any model licenses available that I can use?

• A number of organisations have been working on developing model licenses. Authors are free to use and adapt these. An example of a sample license is available at:

• ARL/ACRL/SPARC Create Change Sample Publication Agreement

Sample Publication Agreement

Interpreting copyright agreements

• Lack of clarity, e.g. authors retain copyright, but publishers still set restrictions on what authors can do

• Does one outweigh the other?

• Personal/departmental/university sites – what does this mean in practice?

• Publisher versions v authors’ final versions – becoming a major issue

Interpreting copyright agreements

• It is not always obvious from a copyright agreement, or from information on a publishers’ web site whether authors are permitted to deposit their article in repositories or not.

• Some points to look out for:

What can be deposited?

• Pre-prints: Many publishers do permit authors to make the pre-prints version of the article available in repositories. By this they are referring to the pre-refereed version.

• Post Print – post refereed, pre journal version – some 65% of publishers will allow the text of article as published to be included in institutional repositories, but not in the form of the formatted PDF file that appears in the journal.

• Publisher PDFs : A very few publishers prefer the final journal PDF version to be used, as this is a clear indication that an article in a repository is the bona fide version.

• Personal or departmental web sites: Many publishers will permit authors to make their articles available on a personal web site or on a departmental site. By permitting this they are making a clear distinction between this type of web pages and institutional repositories. The fact that the full text of the article can easily be found using search engines regardless of whether it is available in ODINPubAfrica or on a personal web site within the individual organisation domain is immaterial.

How do I find out if I am permitted to deposit my paper in an institutional or subject repository?

• Check if you have a copy of the agreement you signed.

• This may indicate whether or not you are permitted to make your paper available in a repository. However, some agreements do not explicitly cover this issue. Also, if the agreement appears to forbid deposit in a repository bear in mind that some publishers do change their agreement and apply this retrospectively.

If the author does not have a copy of the copyright agreement:

• Establish who is the publisher of the paper

• Check the SHERPA/RoMEO Publisher Policies list (note: this list is not comprehensive)

• If the publisher is not listed details of the required copyright agreement may be on the publishers web site (often within the section on “Guidelines/instructions for authors/contributors")..

• Alternatively, contact the publisher directly and ask them

IR role in dealing with copyright

• Advising staff on general and specific copyright issues

• Checking publishers’ copyright agreements before full text of articles is added to repository

• Contacting publishers directly/liaising with publishers where necessary (value added service for gaining content)

Copyright checking process

• Check SHERPA/RoMEO list

• Check publisher web site

• Contact publisher directly to seek permission if situation is unclear or no information about authors’ rights are provided

• Full text therefore added in good faith

Populating repositories v copyright agreements?

• Sticking strictly to the letter of the law can make it very difficult to populate repositories

• Element of ‘risk’ involved in populating a repository

Summary

• For material which has not been submitted for publication, there are no restrictions. Copyright rests with the author(s): there are no barriers to self-archiving.

• For material ready for publication, there is an increasing willingness among journal publishers to permit self-archiving. About 70% already state explicitly that self-archiving of the post refereed, pre-journal version, for non-commercial purposes is acceptable. Some 14% will allow the preprint, the pre-refereed version to be self archived. The majority of the remainder will agree to self-archiving if that is requested by the author.

• A database of publishers and their policies on self-archiving is available from http://romeo.sherpa.ac.uk. A second with individual journal title information at http://romeo.eprints.org/stats.php.

Intellectual Property Rights

• Property that derives from the work of the mind or intellect; An idea, invention, trade secret, process, program, data, formula, patent, copyright, or trademark or application, right, or registration relating thereto

• Intellectual property, very broadly, means the legal rights which result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. Countries have laws to protect intellectual property for two main reasons. One is to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations and the rights of the public in access to those creations. The second is to promote, as a deliberate act of Government policy, creativity and the dissemination and application of its results and to encourage fair trading which would contribute to economic and social development.

• Generally speaking, intellectual property law aims at safeguarding creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting them certain time-limited rights to control the use made of those productions. Those rights do not apply to the physical object in which the creation may be embodied but instead to the intellectual creation as such. Intellectual property is traditionally divided into two branches, “industrial property” and “copyright.”

Intellectual Property Rights

• Necessary to make authors aware that deposit of a pre or post print in a repository may undermine IPR (in the institutional repository constitutes the public domain)

• Deposit Agreement signed by authors for ODINPubAfrica, must include this warning

Use Agreement

• Essential policy document• Helpful in advocacy

– Some organizations write their own

– Most are now evaluating the Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/

– many countries using it as a basis for their own.

eg. Creative Commons Worldwide : International

Commons United Kingdom http://creativecommons.org/worldwide/uk/

– South Africa http://creativecommons.org/worldwide/za/

Conclusions

• Constantly changing landscape, so need to be aware of changing policies for deposit

• Need to work with authors to get them to keep their own copy of the final version of their articles

• Authors need to be persuaded to consider more carefully the copyright agreements they sign and in addition to talk to their publishers about retaining rights. (Organization policy?)

Exercise

• Evaluate

The Creative Commons

http://creativecommons.org

as a User Agreement for ODINPubAfrica