University Libraries OA Resolution - Rights Help

*Please read your author agreement carefully, you may already have the rights needed for personal/professional reproduction and placement in an institutional repository.*

Who owns the copyright in the scholarly articles I write?

As a faculty member, you own your copyright, unless you sign it over to another person or entity.

Am I giving The Ohio State University Libraries or the Knowledge Bank my copyright?

No. Depositing your work in the Knowledge Bank requires only a license of your copyright. This license requests only those rights for deposit in the Knowledge Bank that are necessary to  “…reproduce, translate, display, and/or distribute the submission (including the abstract) as agreed upon, in print and electronic format and in any medium, including but not limited to audio or visual for the purposes of inclusion in the Knowledge Bank. You also agree that the Knowledge Bank may make and retain more than one copy for the purpose of preservation, security and backup.” (Click here to see the full license agreement.)

What if a journal publisher refuses to publish my article because of this prior license?

You can try using an author addendum (see next question), try to publish in a different journal or you can ask for a waiver.

What is an author addendum?

An addendum is an additional section or form that you can add to your author’s agreement. This document will return some limited rights to you in your scholarly work (Use the University Libraries addendum or Big Ten Academic Alliance addendum).

What is a waiver? How may I request one?

If you have made an attempt to retain rights, but are unsuccessful, you may request a waiver from compliance with the policy.  You must contact the Dean, or a designate, to request the waiver. (Click here for steps on how to request a waiver.)

Should I take the license to OSUL/Knowledge Bank into account if I am seeking permission from a third party to incorporate material (an image, for example) in the published article?

Yes, be sure to get permission for any of your uses of third party material in all forms of media which should take into account inclusion in an open access repository. If you are unable to attain permission for this use you may request a waiver or submit a version of the document without the third party material.

What happens if I do not opt out, but assign exclusive rights to a publisher anyway, mistakenly signing a publisher’s agreement that conflicts with the policy?

Please be sure to read any agreement before signing it. The University Libraries license takes precedence, but you may ask for a waiver from the Dean, or a designate, if you are unable to retain necessary rights from the publisher.

How do I determine if my publisher allows me to place my article in the Knowledge Bank?

It may be expressly stated in your author agreement, or you may need to seek clarification from the publisher. Additionally, you should review publisher websites and the Sherpa-Romeo database to see publishers' policies before signing an agreement and/or deciding which journal to submit your work. Your agreement may require notification of the prior license and your intention to deposit in the Knowledge Bank, we have a sample letter that you can use to provide that notice. We have also created a sample letter that may help you to start the conversation to negotiate rights with your publisher.

What if the publisher does not have an author agreement?

Be sure that there is no "click-through" agreement for online submission. That may actually be the author agreement. Again, review each document (digitally or in analog form) carefully. If there is truly no author agreement, in any form, which spells out copyright ownership and rights, then it is likely that you have retained your copyright and can therefore do whatever you wish with your material.

This is overwhelming. I am not sure that I will know what to look for in an author’s agreement.

Again, please be sure to read your agreement. The Author Rights and Copyright Guide from Bernard Becker Medical Library provides a list of some rights an author may wish to retain. Author Rights Resources: Understanding Publisher Methods from Cornell University Library also provides additional words or phrases to look for in your author agreement.

Is there anyone that I can call or email to help me with this process?

For help with the submission process, please email the Knowledge Bank at libkbhelp@lists.osu.edu.  For help understanding your rights please email Copyright Services at libcopyright@osu.edu.

Have other questions about the resolution? Visit University Libraries OA Resolution - FAQs.