GSU Library Research Guides: Copyright Overview: Author's Rights

Author's Rights Links

Managing Authors' Rights
We help authors understand and manage the rights necessary to make their works broadly available now and in the future. Copyright is a complicated subject, to say the least—and most authors would rather be writing than combing through statutes or unpacking contract terms.

Fortunately, our tools and resources help authors understand and apply key concepts like rights reversion, fair use, and termination of transfer. At all stages of their writing careers, authors can take steps to protect their rights and ensure that their works are shared in the ways that they want
SPARC's Resources for Authors
FAQs about Creative Commons Licenses
Frequently asked questions about creative commons licenses and copyright.
Author's Rights, Tout de Suite
From Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Author's Rights Tout de Suite is designed to give journal article authors a quick introduction to key aspects of author's rights and to foster further exploration of this topic through liberal use of relevant references to online documents and links to pertinent Web sites. 13pgs.

Understanding Your Rights

Since copyright is granted automatically with creation and creation of works is such a large part of academic life, many of us don't really understand copyright that well. We just take it for granted. But knowing and understanding your rights is essential!

Author Rights: Using the SPARC Author Addendum to secure your rights as the author of a journal article
Learn your rights and how to exercise them!
Your Own Works: Rights and Ownership
Information on understanding your rights as authors for faculty and students and information about when others infringe on your rights from the University of Minnesota Libraries

Sample Author Addendums

Many authors do not realize that when they sign an agreement with a publisher to publish their articles that they also shift their copyright to the publisher as well. Retaining your rights as an author is important to ensure you can use your writings in teaching or as a foundation for future publications. Attaching an author addendum to the publisher agreement will help ensure you retain the rights you need.

The following are examples of author addenda provided at other Universities indicating institutional support.

SPARC Author Addendum
A free resource developed by SPARC in partnership with Creative Commons and Science Commons. The SPARC Author Addendum is a legal instrument that modifies the publisher's agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles.
Author Addenda
"This is a list of author addenda. An author addendum is a proposed modification to a publisher's standard copyright transfer agreement. If accepted, it would allow the author to retain key rights, especially the right to authorize Open Access. The purpose is to help authors who are uncomfortable negotiating contract terms with publishers."

Suggested Instructions for Using an Author Amendment Form

Print, sign, and date the Author Amendment. The corresponding author can sign on behalf of all authors.
Staple the Author Amendment to the publisher’s agreement or copyright transfer form.
Write “Subject to attached amendment” below your signature on the publisher’s copyright transfer or publication agreement form. This phrase along with your signature serves to inform the publisher that you accept the publisher’s agreement only if the publisher accepts the attached Author Amendment.
Make copies of all the forms for your records.