Publishing Support

Copyright is a form of protection - for a limited time - provided by the laws of the United States for "original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” Copyright exists automatically from the moment the work is created

• Currently in the U.S., for works published after 1977, copyright lasts the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work is a work for hire, or is published anonymously or under a pseudonym, copyright lasts between 95 and 120 years, depending on the date the work is published

Copyright is exclusive rights given to the creator or copyright holder to use a work and to authorize others to do the same. Exclusive rights include:

• Right to reproduce
• Right to distribute 
• Right to display or perform the work publicly
• Right to prepare derivative works or adaptations
• Right to authorize others to exercise any of these rights

Faculty, residents, and students who author a work are the copyright holder until they transfer the copyright to someone else (like a publisher) in a signed agreement.

Transferring copyright does not have to be all or nothing. When publishing, authors are presented with a contract or copyright transfer agreement drafted by the publisher. Many of these publisher drafted agreements transfer copyright fully to the publisher thereby restricting an author's subsequent usage of his or her published work, including reuse of the work in teaching and further research. Publishers only need the right of first publication, not a wholesale transfer of copyright. Faculty can transfer copyright while holding back rights for themselves and others. Publishers’ agreements should be read carefully, and faculty should negotiate for the rights they wish to retain.

Source: ACRL (2023). LibGuides: Scholarly Communication Toolkit: Author’s Rights. Retrieved March 14, 2023

The following resources can help you further understand and exercise your rights as an author.

Creative Commons is a global non-profit organization that provides a set of licenses which modify strict copyright to give public permission to use and share creative work, based on the creator’s stated preference. Every CC license applies worldwide, lasts for the duration of the work’s copyright, is non-revocable, and is not exclusive.

There are four main conditions that can be applied to a CC license. The conditions can be mixed and matched to create licenses for different situations. There are six main license types, ranging from most free to least free:

Creative Commons Tools:

Most publishers have policies that allow for versions of an author's work to be used on a personal website or in a subject-based or institutional repository, such as TUScholarShare. This is also called “self-archiving.” Generally, publishers do not allow for the final version (also known as the “publishers PDF”) to be shared. Authors must deposit a pre-print or post-print instead

• A pre-print is the original version of a manuscript, prior to editing and acceptance to a journal
• A post-print is the version of an author’s manuscript that has been peer reviewed and edited. In other words, this is the final version accepted by a journal but without the formatting and final tweaks made for the published form
• Be aware that pre- and post-prints can have varying definitions, so be sure to check with your publisher if you are unsure

Are you a Temple-affiliated author interested in disseminating your already published work to a wider audience? Use the CV Review Service and Temple Libraries staff will review your CV or a list of publications and determine which works we may lawfully deposit to Temple's institutional repository on your behalf.

Source: Page information adapted from the Scholarly Communication Strategic Steering Team (SCSST)'s TUScholarShare Communications Toolkit: Educational Materials Guide