Author's Rights and Publishing Contracts: More Resources
How do I find and secure usage rights for my work?
Keeping Your Copyrights
What rights would you like to retain when you publish? What does the contract the publisher sent you mean? Although we cannot act as your attorney, staff in the Scholarly Communications Office will be glad to discuss what your contract means and what your options are for retaining rights.
Here are some tools to help you retain rights when you publish:
- Author's Rights, Tout de SuiteGives journal article authors a quick introduction to key aspects of author's rights.
- Keep Your Copyrights: A Resource for CreatorsDesigned to help creators hold on to their copyrights and to license their rights on author-friendly terms. Written by legal academics at Columbia Law School.
- SHERPA/RoMEOUse this site to find a summary of permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement.
- Know Your CopyrightsA short copyright resource for libraries and authors.
- SPARC Author AddendumSome authors handle the process of making changes in their publishing contracts by attaching an addendum. Here is a model addendum to consider.
Regaining Rights To Your Books
- Understanding Rights Reversion: When, Why, & How to Regain Copyright and Make Your Book More Available"That book you published a few years ago is no longer selling like it used to, but it still contains useful information. Why don’t you ask your publisher for your rights back? You may be surprised to know that your publisher might be quite willing to give you back your rights if you ask. In fact, your publisher might also be quite willing to work with you to increase your book’s availability.
Don’t worry if you are unsure about how to approach your publisher. A new guide created by Authors Alliance will help you through the process, each step of the way."
Understanding Manuscript Versions
- Versions of Manuscripts (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)An author's rights are different for different publishing contracts, but they are also different for different versions of the manuscript.
- Submitted manuscript (pre-print): the original version submitted to a journal, prior to peer review
- Accepted manuscript (post-print): the version after peer review, but without formatting done by the publisher
- Published version (version of record): the final, published version with all of the publishers' formatting
Creative Commons Licenses
If you are publishing open access, you will typically have to agree to a Creative Commons Attribution License. Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law.
- CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- CC BY-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-SA includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- SA – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
- CC BY-NC: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. It includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
- CC BY-NC-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
- SA – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
- CC BY-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY-ND includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
- CC BY-NC-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
- BY – Credit must be given to the creator
- NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
- ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
- CC0 (aka CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.
(source: Creative Commons, "About CC Licenses," https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/)
Determining Your Rights for Previously Published Work
If you transferred your copyright to the publisher at the time of publication, your right to re-use the content in teaching and publication may be restricted. To determine your rights, take the following steps:
- If you have it, check your original publishing agreement.
- Look for the specific publisher's policies on the SHERPA/RoMEO website.
- Contact the publisher.
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