Authors typically own a copyright in a work at the point of creation, but they can contain or quote other copyrighted works. Copyright may also be held by a third party. For example, authors may be required by a journal publisher to assign their copyright to them via a copyright transfer form. Some works that are done for an employer are considered “works-for-hire,” and in these cases the copyright resides with the employer.
Varieties of ownership
1. If Author(s) Own the Copyright
If the author solely holds the copyright, he/she can simply submit the work.
2. Copyrights in Works Within the Submitted Work
As noted, many works contain or quote other copyrighted works, and the law allows some use of other copyrighted works without permission under fair use. If use is likely to exceed fair use guidelines, permission from the copyright holder should be obtained.
3. Material Deposited Under the Faculty and Librarian Open Access Policies
The Faculty and Librarians of the University of Washington have adopted Open Access Policies intended to make their research and scholarship freely and widely available to the people of Washington and the broader research community. Under the OA Policies, Faculty and Librarians grant to the University a limited, non-exclusive license enabling the UW to make their articles freely and widely available in an open access repository. Authors retain copyright to their work until/unless they transfer it to their publisher or another third party.
4. If the Copyright is Owned by a Publisher
Authors that have assigned their copyright to a publisher may still be able to deposit works in ResearchWorks as many publishers will permit deposit of their published works in institutional repositories such as ResearchWorks. Current publisher policies are available at the Sherpa web site. Publication agreements may also allow authors to deposit in an institutional depository. It may also be possible to negotiate the right to submit your work to ResearchWorks with a publisher. For a broader discussion on your rights as an author go to the SPARC web site.
If there are any specific provisions that the publisher requires such as citing the publication or delaying access for a certain time period after publication let ResearchWorks staff know by emailing us.
5. Works For Hire
It is important for UW authors to know that by established policy, the University of Washington “…acknowledges the right of faculty, staff, and students to prepare and publish, through individual initiative, articles, pamphlets, and books that are copyrighted by the authors…” There are exceptions to this policy that are explained in full in the University’s Copyright Policy.
6. Other Rights Considerations
Assuming that authors own the copyright for materials submitted to and made available via ResearchWorks, they do not relinquish or compromise it by doing so. ResearchWorks will indicate that the author(s) retain the copyright, and they do not need the permission of ResearchWorks to make any other use of it. However, authors will not be able to sign exclusive agreements with any other party after submission to ResearchWorks, and authors wanting to publish the work elsewhere should inform the publisher that the work is also in ResearchWorks.