Keeping Your Copyrights Deborah R. Gerhardt – Fall 2005

Copyright Overview

What is a copyright? 17 U.S.C. 106 gives authors the exclusive right to: make copies distribute copies make “derivative works” perform publicly display publicly

What does Copyright Protect? Original works Fixed in a tangible form Examples:Article

Copyright Protection is Broad Copyright Protection Covers Many Uses: Novels Copyrights protect the right to publish, to perform a public reading or write a screenplay. Journal articles Copyrights protect your right to revise it, hand out copies, put it on the web and publish it.

Copyright Ownership Issues

How do you get a copyright? Once the author creates a work, copyright automatically attaches. There is no notice requirement. There is no registration requirement. You do get additional rights if you use a notice and register.

Copyright Ownership Issues Copyrights may be assigned or licensed to another person or organization. Assignments can only be done in writing. If the copyright is assigned to another person or organization, the original author no longer owns the copyright.

Assignment vs. License An ASSIGNMENT transfers all rights from the author. A LICENSE permits someone other than the copyright owner to exercise some of the rights in a work.

Do Publication Contracts take Copyrights? Most publication contracts take Copyrights from the author. Here is an example: You hereby assign the entire copyright in this Article to the North Carolina Law Review. The copyright consists of any and all rights of whatever kind now or hereafter protected by the copyright laws of the United States and of all foreign countries, in all languages, and in all forms of communication including electronic storage and retrieval systems. This copyright attaches as of the date of the execution of this contract. The North Carolina Law Review, through itself or others, shall have the right to publish the author’s work in all languages and in all forms of communication including electronic storage and retrieval systems.

Will Keeping My Copyright Protect Me? Yes. But watch out for tricky language- Even when the contract says you are retaining your rights, you may not be: Example of a Copyright “Retention” Contract: “You, as the author, retain copyright to your Article. The copyright consists of any and all rights of whatever kind now or hereafter protected by the copyright laws of the United States and of all foreign countries, in all languages... “You, as the author, retain copyright to your Article. The copyright consists of any and all rights of whatever kind now or hereafter protected by the copyright laws of the United States and of all foreign countries, in all languages... You hereby assign the right to publish, reproduce, and distribute your Article, in all languages and in all forms of communication including print and electronic media to the... Law Review.” You hereby assign the right to publish, reproduce, and distribute your Article, in all languages and in all forms of communication including print and electronic media to the... Law Review.”

Why should I keep my Copyright? If you publish an article and give away your copyright, you must ask permission before you can: distribute copies of the article to your class or your colleagues use the article as a chapter in a book put the article on electronic reserve or put the article on your web site The UNC library pays thousands of dollars every year for permissions to use works created by UNC professors.

What is fair use? 17 USC Section 107 lists Four Factors: Purpose and character of the use Nature of the Work Amount Used Effect on the Potential Market Example: using a short excerpt for comment, criticism or news reporting.

What is not fair use? When you do not own the copyright, many common uses of a work are not fair uses, such as: displaying an entire article on a web site, distributing an article every semester in class, putting an article on electronic reserve, and using significant portions of an article in a new piece.

What are the Goals? We want you to protect your creative rights to use your work in the future. We want to maximize access to your work at UNC and the broader academic community.

Keeping Your Copyrights

Why Should I Retain My Copyright? From the moment you create a work, you own copyrights. When you publish the work, consider giving the publishers the rights they need, but keeping the rights you need to use your work in the future.

How? The UNC Author’s Fair Use Addendum: In addition to any rights under copyright retained by Author in the Publication Agreement, Author retains: (i) the rights to reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display the Article in any medium for non-commercial purposes; (ii) the right to prepare, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display derivative works from the Article; and (iii) the right to authorize others to make any non- commercial use of the Article so long as Author receives credit and the journal in which the Article has been published is cited as the source of first publication of the Article. For example, Author may make and distribute copies of the Article in the course of teaching and research and may post the Article on personal or institutional web sites.

What Should I do? Step 1. Give the publisher the UNC Author’s Fair Use Addendum. Step 1. Give the publisher the UNC Author’s Fair Use Addendum. Step 2. Use these “talking points.” Step 2. Use these “talking points.” 1. The publisher gets the exclusive right to publish the work. 1. The publisher gets the exclusive right to publish the work. 2. As the author, you keep the rights you need to use the work for educational purposes. 2. As the author, you keep the rights you need to use the work for educational purposes.

What if the Journal Says No? You still may publish the work. You may also consider the possibility of getting the article published in a journal that will let you keep some of your rights. You may also consider the possibility of getting the article published in a journal that will let you keep some of your rights. According to Creative Commons, journals that permit authors to keep their copyrights are cited more often than journals which require authors to give up their rights.

What if the Journal Says Yes? Next to any language about transferring or assigning the author’s copyright, write, “See the attached UNC Author’s Fair Use Addendum.” Sign two copies of the Addendum and ask the publisher to send you one of the copies after they have signed it. Keep the Addendum in your files.

Action Plan Take a UNC Author’s Fair Use Addendum. Try to use it the next time you get a publishing contract. If you tell us what happens, we will tell you which journals accept the Fair Use Addendum. Enjoy the freedom of keeping your creative rights and using your work in the future!