Partnering on Copyright

Overview

'University Copyright Policies' focuses on the university to author relationship, as these are the parties whose interests are most at stake in institutional copyright policies. As institutional copyright policies should be in line with the publishing agreements both of these projects are closely interlinked and are complementary.

Aims & Objectives

One aim of the project was to carry out a multi-national study of different institutional copyright policies in the UK and the Netherlands, the outcome of which is to be presented in such a way that it supports and assists institutions in (re)phrasing their copyright policies in the light of the Zwolle Principles, according to their particular needs and priorities. This project also considers the contract of employment between the academic and his/her employing institution and national copyright law in so far as this affects institutional copyright policy. However, the actual contracts and tools to effect a culture change in the UK and the Netherlands' HEIs are not within the scope of this project.

Furthermore, this project is related to Institutional Repositories (IRs) which need to consider the rights and warranties they require of academics in order to mount and disseminate their work electronically. Therefore, a ‘user’ version of a model author/ HEI licence has been designed by which academics may licence IRs the appropriate rights, and in return the IR will warrant that the material will be made available under the conditions imposed by the academic or his/her institution. A click-through version has also been drafted asking authors, in simple terms, what the copyright status of their work is, and providing the IR with the security it needs to ‘publish’. In return, the IR will specify its obligations to the academic, including the conditions under which the work will be made available by the IR.

Overall Approach

As part of this project, the different parties involved within institutions have been distinguished, for example management, administration, libraries and academic authors. The work also includes discussions with Universities UK, the Association of University Teachers in the UK and other stakeholders in both countries.

The overall approach was to first survey a sample number of institutions in both countries for their copyright policies and arrangements and to then report on examples of best practice and issues. This then forms the basis of a set of practical guidelines suitable for HEI in the Netherlands and the UK. The second part of this project was to create a model ‘user’ licence for depositors and managers of IRs. This is not a legal document but a ‘toolkit’ which takes users through the steps which may be necessary to deposit material and for it to be used by others. Incorporated in this is a model ‘notice and take down’ procedure which institutions might use as a starting point.

Project Outcomes

The development of standard licences and procedures as envisaged in this project should greatly enhance the take-up of IRs, particularly if the results can be incorporated into the standard software packages for IRs, such as eprints.org, i-TOR, ARNO and DSpace. During the work, a survey of existing licences and notices developed in the UK (under FAIR and other IR initiatives along with digital repositories such as JORUM) and the Netherlands (in the DARE Projects) have also been carried out.

Project Partners

Project Management

Project Coordination: Wilma Mossink (SURF-DiRECt Community)