Managing your copyright? The UW-Madison Libraries can help!
A letter to Faculty and Researchers from Kenneth Frazier, Director
General Library System
University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries
Dear Faculty and Researchers:
Scholarly publishing is rapidly changing as new technological developments are made in the publishing industry. To expand the reach of research and maximize its value in this new environment, many scholars are taking a more active role in managing their copyright. In fact, in 2007 the UW-Madison Faculty Senate passed a resolution <http://www.secfac.wisc.edu/senate/2007/0507/1994.pdf> encouraging faculty to control their copyright and recommended the use of the endorsed author addendum (attached). In support of these efforts, the UW-Madison Libraries want you to be aware of your rights as an author and can help you navigate and manage your copyrights.
In many cases when you publish in a journal or sign a book contract, the publisher will ask you to sign away some of your copyrights. These agreements can deprive authors of the right to post their work on the Internet, share articles with colleagues, or even make copies for classroom use without permission from the publisher. This does not need to be the case, and as an author you can ask to retain some or all of these rights.
If your article or book has been accepted for publication you have three options:
- Transfer your copyright to the publisher, retaining certain rights outlined by the publisher (this has traditionally been what publisher agreements ask for from authors).
- Retain specific rights which you need to retain to do your work, but otherwise transfer copyright to the publisher (the attached addendum allows for this option).
- Retain ownership of the copyright and grant specific rights to publishers so that they can do business as needed.
If you are interested in exploring ways to negotiate these rights, want help using the endorsed addendum, need guidance with Fair Use policies and the reuse of materials in your teaching, or have any questions related to these issues please contact the Libraries for help. You can visit the UW-Madison Libraries’ Scholarly Communication and Publishing Web site <http://www.library.wisc.edu/scp/>, contact your library liaison, or email us at copyright@library.wisc.edu.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Frazier, Director
General Library System
University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries