Librarians need to feel competent and well-versed on the basic guidelines that govern copyright. Copyright law gives the creator of copyrighted works exclusive rights, including principally:

• to reproduce the work in copies (e.g., through photocopying),
• to distribute copies of the work;
• to prepare translations or other derivative works,
• to perform or display the work publicly;
• to authorize others to exercise any of these rights.

Research papers and related scholarly products are protected by copyright as soon as the author fixes them in a tangible medium, including electronic media. At most colleges and universities, authors own the copyright in traditional academic publications. Librarians should assure that their faculty members are familiar with the intellectual property policy at their own institution. University of Maryland University College’s Center for Intellectual Property has pulled together a directory of campus policies.

Here are some sample points to bring to the attention of faculty during outreach conducted at department meetings, brown-bag lunch sessions, or simply in a flyer or letter:

• When you write an article for a scholarly journal, you are typically asked to sign a publication agreement or a copyright transfer agreement. The purpose of this document is to transfer your ownership of copyright to the publisher.
• Copyright is a bundle or package of the rights cited above. Scholars (creators) can unbundle these rights and transfer only some of them to publishers. For example:
• the creator transfers ownership of the copyright, but retains the right to do certain things like include articles in course packs, or place articles on a personal web site or an institutional repository.
• The creator retains ownership of the copyright and grants a non-exclusive license to the publisher, typically for the right of first formal publication.
• Before signing a publication agreement, review the rights you retain to ensure you can use your work in the ways you want. If the publisher’s standard agreement doesn’t give you the control you want, suggest changes.

Science Commons has created a Scholars Addendum Engine that generates a PDF you can distribute to faculty as an example of what they can attach to their publication agreement. The SPARC Author Addendum is a legal instrument that modifies the publisher’s agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles. The Creative Commons site is another widely consulted resource which provides deep background and innovative solutions for authors who would like to retain control of their products.

For librarians giving presentations on author’s rights or distributing flyers or letters to faculty, we suggest that a sample Author Addendum accompany the points above. Successful case studies may also be useful, especially if they demonstrate how a colleague in the same or a related field has been able to shake the status quo. Many case studies are available on the Create Change site , which examines changes in how scholarship is conducted and communicated across a variety of fields.