Subject Guides
Community Research and Action
A guide to support research, scholarly development, and research.
Guide Contents
Copyright for Authors
Traditional author/publisher agreements are set up in such a way that the author gives away most copyright of articles and books to the publisher, including the right to redistribute, post or re-use the work in any meaningful way. Recent developments (such as the Open Access movement) has lead to significant changes, but the onerous still falls on the author to read and understand the copyright/publishing agreement before accepting it.
These are resources that might make it easier.
- SHERPA-roMEO Publisher Copyright Policies and Self-ArchivingSearch by Journal Title, Publisher or ISSN for summary of copyright permissions in easy to understand language.
- An Introduction to Publication Agreements for Authors (pdf)Useful reading from a Harvard University Law blog.
- Creative CommonsCreative Commons licenses are developed to author authors to select copyright levels for their digital work that is compatible with the potential of the internet.
- Author Addendum (ALA/SPARC)A legal instrument that modifies the publisher’s agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles.
- Copyright Advisory Network - ResourcesA list of tools put together by the American Library Associations' Copyright Advisory Network that is designed to help authors and researchers determine if items are in the public domain.
- What Happens When There Is No Publication Agreement?Explaining the authors rights in the case of implied or non- existing publisher agreement.
Disclaimer
Please remember that only a lawyer can provide legal counsel on contracts and all aspects of the law, including copyright. The sources on this page are chosen to provide you with guidance in making your own decisions.
