Open Access: Copyright and Licensing

Copyright and Licensing

Authorship, Copyright and Licensing

Authorship: The moral rights law gives the author 

  • the right to attribution, 
  • the right against false attribution and
  • the right of integrity to their work. 

These rights cannot be transferred or sold - so you will always be the 'author' of your work.

Ownership: Copyright gives the owner exclusive rights to:

  • reproduce,
  • publish
  • perform
  • communicate
  • adapt or modify their work. 

The owner can transfer any or all of these rights to other users or a third party, such as a publisher.  It is often seen as an 'economic' right.

Commercial publishers agreements:

Most Publisher Agreements will list a range of terms and conditions of use including:

Rights Period Territory Warranties

All or some

Can be specific

Can expire after a period of time

Ongoing unless specified

Reversion clauses 
allows you to reclaim some rights if certain conditions are not met

World-wide rights

Specific countries, regions

Languages covered

Are you the copyright owner?

Any 3rd party materials used?

Often accompanied by an indemnity

 

What if you don't like the agreement?

Negotiate

  • Know what rights you want to keep
  • Ask if the agreement can be altered
  • If not – why not?
  • Be reasonable, flexible, creative and persistent
  • Use an addendum – eg, SPARC Addendum
  • Try a different publisher – ask colleagues about their experiences

Creative Commons

Creative Commons licenses allow creators to specify how others can use, modify, and distribute their content—ranging from allowing any use with attribution to more restrictive terms like non-commercial use only. The goal of Creative Commons is to promote the free and legal sharing of knowledge and creativity, making it easier for people to collaborate and build upon

Design: Markus Büsges, leomaria designbüro, Germany, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

1. CC BY (Attribution)
What it allows: Others can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the work, even commercially.

Requirement: Must give appropriate credit to the creator.

 

2. CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike)
What it allows: Others can remix, adapt, and build upon the work—even commercially—as long as they credit the creator and license their new creations under the same terms.

Popular example: Wikipedia uses this license.

 

3. CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivs)
What it allows: Redistribution is allowed (commercial and non-commercial), as long as the work is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the creator.

No derivatives allowed.

 

4. CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial)
What it allows: Others can remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially; they must credit the creator, but they don’t have to license derivative works under the same terms.

 

5. CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike)
What it allows: Others can remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially, must credit the creator, and license new creations under the same terms.

 

6. CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs)
Most restrictive license.

What it allows: Only allows others to download and share the work with credit, but they cannot change it or use it commercially.

Publishing Licences

Exclusive

  • You still own copyright
  •   Cannot use material yourself – must have permission from   the new copyright owner
  •   Cannot give permission to others – must come from the  new copyright owner
  •   Must be in writing and signed

Non-exclusive

  • You still own copyright
  •   Can use material yourself
  •   Can give permission to others
  •   Can be verbal – but better if in writing
Assignment
  •    Transfer of rights
  •   Cannot use material yourself – must have permission from   the new copyright owner
  •   Cannot give permission to others – must come from the  new copyright owner
  •   Must be in writing and signed