Most publishing contracts include a Copyright Transfer Agreement section that transfers some or all rights to the publisher. This can result in giving up legal rights to use your work on course websites, distribute copies to students or colleagues, reuse portions of the work, or deposit your work in a public archive such as Vassar Scholarship.
To maintain control over your rights:
- Publish in an open access journal, or as an OA publication, so that everyone always has free access to your work.
- Open access publishing typically allows authors to retain copyright through the use of Creative Commons licenses, which can allow for distribution and reuse of material provided the original author is cited.
- Publish in a journal that allows you to retain the rights you need to re-use your own work. Search Sherpa Romeo to find publisher OA policies and publisher copyright/ archiving policies.
- Negotiate with the publisher to maintain some or all of your specific rights.
Please contact
Andy Ashton, Director of the Libraries and campus Copyright Officer, with questions regarding publishing and copyright.
