Sample publishing agreement language
Model licenses that promote the reuse of intellectual works
Further Reading

Sample publishing agreement language

• Retain Certain Copyrights. The University of California's Office of Scholarly Communication. Explains to authors how to retain rights to their works by transfering a limited number of rights to publishers. Includes examples of limited rights transfer agreements.
• Keep your Copyrights. This user-friendly site prepared by legal academics at Columbia Law School provides concrete advice to creators on how to hold on to their copyrights, including numerous examples of contract language (to include and to avoid).
• Retaining Rights to Use Your Works: Copyright Challenges for Faculty. Scholarly Communication Center, NCSU Libraries, North Carolina State University (NCSU). Suggests wording that allows author to at least use the published work for their own teaching and research; and to retain ownership rights to pre-publication drafts for purposes of modification and distribution within the university community.
• Copyright Management. Office of General Counsel, University of Texas (UT). Suggests wording for copyright notice of published work that allows authors and other UT community members to make copies of the work for research or classroom use without permission.
• Recommended language for manuscript contracts. Office of Vice Provost of Information Services, University of Kansas (KU). Recommends language for manuscript contracts the allows author and KU colleagues to retain the right to use works in teaching and research and to post an electronic copy on a publicly accessible web site.
• What do you want from your publisher? International Mathematical Union. Describes general principles for copyright agreements with publishers.

Model licenses that promote the reuse of intellectual works

• SPARC Author's Addendum - the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition offers a form that authors can attach to their publishing agreements to retain some rights. The form can be used as an alternative to marking up the publisher's agreement.
• Creative Commons - provides a selection of licenses that allows author to retain copyright and/or grants broad rights to the public to reproduce, display, and distribute creative works.
• GNU General Public License - the original license for open access software. Requires all modifications and extended versions to be open software as well.
• Public Library of Science License - PLOS uses the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows authors to retain copyright of their work while making it freely available.

Further Reading on Copyright Ownership

• Copyown. Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and University of Maryland.
• Ownership Issues. Center for Intellectual Property. University of Maryland University College (UMUC).
• Ownership of New Works at the University: Unbundling of Rights and the Pursuit of Higher Learning [PDF] CETUS Discussion Series. Consortium for Educational Technology in University Systems (CETUS).
• Policies Online. Center for Intellectual Property, University of Maryland University College (UMUC).
• Rhoades, Gary. Who's Property is it? Academe, 87(5). 2001. 39.
• Salomon, Kenneth D. A Primer on Distance Learning and Intellectual Property Issues. Law Offices of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson.
• Twigg, Carol A. Who Owns Online Courses and Course Materials? Intellectual Property Policies for a New Learning Environment, The Pew Learning and Technology Program, Center for Academic Transformation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• Who Owns What? Crash Copyright Tutorial. Office of General Counsel, University of Texas System.