Publishing Agreements and Author Rights

When publishing a work, authors usually enter into a publishing agreement (also called an author agreement or copyright transfer agreement).

This agreement usually transfers copyright of the published version to the publisher and also outlines what rights the author retains over the published or previous author versions.

Things to look out for

• Whether the author retains copyright or assigns it to the publisher.
• What rights the publisher has (e.g., print, digital, translation, film and increasingly use to train AI).
• Whether the author can reuse or archive the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM)
• If authors can apply a Creative Commons license to the AAM version if required by funder.  For example, IEEE now require payment of a IEEE repository license fee to place a Creative Commons license on the AAM.

Perhaps consider UTAS Read and Publish open access options first to save future publishing headaches.

Find out more about Copyright and research, including a handy printable guide.

Read through your agreement...always!

• Authors should carefully review publishing agreements before signing to understand what rights are being transferred.

• Be aware of UTAS Open Access procedure and Funder Open Access mandates, for example NHMRC funding requires immediate open access and assignment of a Creative Commons Licence 

• If authors are unhappy with any clauses in the agreement, they should negotiate with the publisher.

Remember, Negotiation is always an option

Before you sign, ask yourself, What rights do I need to retain? 

• Deposit: Allows authors to deposit of the AAM version in the UTAS Research Repository 
• Reuse in future publications: Allows authors to reuse their work in future publications. 
• Use for teaching and presentation: Allows authors to use their work for teaching and presentations. 
• Posting on personal website: Allows authors to share their work on their personal website. 
• Creative Commons (CC)  Licence: Allows authors to apply a CC Licence to meet Funder Open Access mandate
• AI use Author Rights protection:  Attribution or opt-out if publisher has licensing deals with AI Trainers. For example Wiley position statement on illegal scraping of copyrighted content by AI developers

Tools to help you negotiate

• SPARC Author Addendum: A widely used tool for modifying publisher agreements to retain rights. 
• Pre-submission letters: Some publishers allow authors to submit a pre-submission letter outlining the rights they wish to retain. 
• Negotiation: Authors can directly negotiate with publishers to modify the publishing agreement. 

Need Help?

• Contact UTAS Copyright Manager or organisations like the Australian Society of Authors (ASA)