Copyright Ownership and Rights Management NIH, Harvard and TRLN Kevin L. Smith

Navigating around the tolls In the Middle Ages, the Rhine river to was lined with armed forts to collect tolls from merchants. Scholarship today is fraught with demands for toll. Is there a way to navigate around all of the tolls?

Whos paying? Libraries – pay multiple times for resources originally created using University funds. Faculty members – often cannot share work or use materials to teach, even when they are the authors. Students – usually bear the cost of added fees. The Public – cannot access important research. Small institutions – cannot adequately support research and teaching.

How can we open up the flow? Key is to help faculty recognize the power of authorship and learn to manage copyright.

It is good to be an author!! Authors own copyright in their original, fixed work automatically. No formalities needed. They are free to transfer or license their copyright.

But who is an author? Not defined in the Copyright Act. If a work is made for hire, employer is the author from creation. Joint authorship issues: Joint authors are co-owners of undivided interest in entire work. Each joint author can use work without permission of others; must account to other authors for any profits.

Important determinations Work for hire if: Created by regular employee within scope of her employment. Independent contractor creates certain types of work with an explicit agreement. Joint authorship if: Authors each create protectable work with intention to combine into single work (inseparable or interdependent). Need not be equal contributions

Importance of policy Most universities have a policy which says faculty retain © ownership regardless of work for hire rules May or may not apply to staff Important to know your institutions policy: Must be author (initially) to be able to sign a publication agreement,.i.e.

What can authors do with ©? Author can transfer copyright ownership: Transfer, often called assignment, must be in writing to be valid. Entire copyright or one or more of the exclusive rights can be transferred. Most publication agreements are copyright transfers. Author can license others to exercise rights: Author retains ownership, but licensee allowed to exercise some part of the exclusive rights. Licenses can be exclusive (in writing) or non- exclusive. Multiple parties can have non-exclusive licenses for same right. Exclusive licenses can be limited in time and sequential.

Current system is broken: Authors often required to sign away copyright, without compensation, in order to publish, Often retain some rights, but seldom know what those are. Law and agreements cannot keep up with technology and new opportunities Faculty authors frequently ignore agreements they signed.

The perils of Prof. Weasel, or A Librarians Guide to Copyright. Video available at: httpwww.youtube.com/watch?v=7giW7efQggo:// httpwww.youtube.com/watch?v=7giW7efQggo:// Librarians Guide to Understanding Academic Copyright

Saving Prof. Weasel – the NIH solution Authors whose work is funded by NIH are now required to deposit peer-reviewed articles that have been accepted for publication in PubMed Central. Publishers should be informed of NIH support upon submission. May embargo public availability for up to 12 months after publication. Publication agreements need to include right to accomplish deposit

4 steps to NIH compliance Retain sufficient rights to self-deposit in PMC OR publish in a journal that has a participation agreement w/ NIH. Deposit article in PMC upon acceptance, OR establish that the publisher will do so. Verify final text, right to authorize deposit, and any embargo period. Obtain PMC ID number for use in later reports, renewals or applications.

Saving Prof. Weasel – the Harvard solution Harvard Arts & Sciences faculty voted to give a license in all of their scholarly works to the University for deposit in Harvards IR. License arises automatically. All publication agreements will have to be made subject to this prior license. License will be waived upon request from author. Goal is to advance scholarly communications, not inhibit it.

Saving Prof. Weasel – Copyright management for the rest of us. Read publication contracts!! Many do let authors retain rights. Think about what authors might want to do with their work in the future. Digital opportunities. Derivative works. Negotiate beneficial agreements. Addenda Squeaky wheel contracts Campus-wide negotiations

Copyright is an authors right. Treat, and teach, copyright as an asset. Encourage awareness of the unique economics and reward structure for scholarly communications. Support contract negotiations to serve faculty needs and support the values of scholarship. Many of the © issues we face could be resolved if scholars retained their rights.