Copyright and Licensing in Open Access Journals

February 2022

Tom Olyhoek, Editor in Chief

Judith Barnsby, Senior Managing Editor

Overview

• Importance of copyright and licensing
• DOAJ criteria: licensing
• DOAJ criteria: copyright
• More about copyright
• Copyright/licensing incompatibilities
• Help available

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Importance of Copyright and Licensing

Importance of copyright

• When an original work is created, the owner automatically has exclusive copyright of that work
• Copyright is used to protect the work against unauthorized use
• Many works cannot be used without permission of the owner
• Open access allows owners to share rights
• Rights are shared using a license

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Importance of licensing

• Free access does not always mean open access!
• Open access = free access + usage rights
• Use licensing to:
• Inform readers how they may reuse content
• Inform readers of any reuse that is not allowed
• Protect the author and journal against unauthorised use

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DOAJ Criteria: Licensing

Creative Commons

• DOAJ recommends use of Creative Commons licenses (or equivalent)
• No charge for using CC licenses
• You may not change or adapt the terms of the CC licenses
• Easy for users to understand their rights
• Other licenses may be used, but only if they have similar terms and conditions to Creative Commons
• Terms must be clearly stated online

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Caption: an illustration of the main license types and their terms

DOAJ licensing requirements

• Licensing terms must be clearly stated on the journal website
• Copyright notice and publishing agreement must not conflict with license
• Different licenses may be applied under certain conditions
• Funder requirements
• Author’s employer requirements
• Only one license can be applied to an individual article

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Licensing best practice

• Embed or display licensing information in full text articles
• Useful when articles are downloaded and shared
• Recommended but not required for inclusion in DOAJ
• Licenses allowing wide reuse are preferred by many
• CC BY is required by some funders
• But any CC license is accepted by DOAJ

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Caption: a screenshot of the DOAJ application form showing that all types of license are permitted, as well as CC0, and Public domain.

DOAJ Criteria: Copyright

Copyright basics

• Copyright is held by the owner of a work - it cannot be shared
• The owner may transfer or license copyright to another
• Publishers have often required copyright transfer in order to publish articles and protect the publications but this is not necessary
• “All rights reserved” is never appropriate in open access

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DOAJ copyright requirements

• Copyright notice and publishing agreement must not conflict with license
• Copyright terms applied to the published content may be different to the copyright of the website as a whole
• Articles - copyright of authors or publisher
• Website - copyright of publisher
• A journal’s copyright policy must be clearly stated online

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Copyright best practice

• Authors retain copyright of their work
• Publisher has right of first publication
• Recommended but not required for inclusion in DOAJ
• Authors also retain full publishing rights
• Publisher is granted non-exclusive rights to publish and distribute
• Publishers cannot license rights to third parties
• Authors can reuse their work without restriction
• Recommended but not required for inclusion in DOAJ

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More about copyright

Copyright ownership options

• Copyright retained by the authors without restriction

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• Copyright transferred to the publisher

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• Some rights transferred or licensed to the publisher
• Usually commercial rights

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Copyright without restrictions

• If authors retain copyright and full publishing rights
• The author can use their work as they wish
• Not bound by user license or publisher terms�
• If authors do not retain unrestricted rights
• They are bound by the terms of the publishing agreement
• They may have no more rights than an end-user

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Copyright with restrictions

• Copyright retained without restriction? NO
• Copyright retained by the author but…
• Exclusive publishing rights given to the publisher
• Author has granted or transferred exclusive commercial rights

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• Author no longer retains full rights

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Copyright and licensing

• Copyright and licensing are not the same thing
• Used together to specify
• Ownership of content
• Usage rights
• Copyright holder is not bound by the terms of the user license
• Copyright holder gives a license to users of their work

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Copyright and licensing

• Copyright held by author without restrictions
• License applies to readers and publisher�
• Copyright transferred or exclusively licensed to publisher
• License applies to readers and author(s)�
• Copyright held by author, but commercial rights by publisher, and non-commercial license used
• License applies to readers and author(s)

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Copyright / licensing incompatibilities

Incorrect restriction to fair use 1

• Copyright is retained by the author but publishing agreement says…
• Author is only allowed to use work in the classroom or…
• Publish on personal website or university repository

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• Author cannot be restricted to fair use when they are the copyright holder!

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Incorrect restriction to fair use 2

• Copyright is transferred to the publisher and publishing agreement says…
• Author is only allowed to use work in the classroom or…
• Publish on personal website or university repository

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• Author cannot be restricted to fair use - they can use the work according to the CC license, just like any other user

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Incorrect restriction on future publication

• Copyright is retained by the author but…
• Publisher says author cannot publish the article in another journal AFTER first publication ou après un embargo de…….

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• The publisher cannot impose this restriction on the author

- Open Access permits republication with acknowledgment of first publication

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Incorrect restriction on use without permission

• Copyright is transferred to the publisher and…
• Publisher says no use of the published work without permission

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• The publisher cannot impose this restriction - author can use the work according to the CC license, without asking permission

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Incorrect restriction to non-commercial use 1

• Copyright and unrestricted rights are retained by the author but…
• A CC BY-NC license is applied
• Publisher says author is only allowed to use the work non-commercially

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• As the author retains unrestricted rights, the license does not apply to them so commercial use by the author is allowed

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Incorrect restriction to non-commercial use 2

• Copyright is transferred to the publisher but…
• A CC BY license is applied
• Publisher says author is only allowed to use the work non-commercially

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• The author has the same rights as a reader and can use the work commercially under the CC BY license

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Conflicting information

• Journal website states authors retain copyright but…
• There is a copyright transfer agreement
• Articles show copyright held by publisher

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• Ensure your copyright information is correct and consistent

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Common reasons for DOAJ rejection around copyright and licensing

Rejection at triage stage

• No licensing information is available on the website

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Rejection after full review�

• Licensing/copyright policy is unclear
• Copyright and licensing policies are incompatible
• All rights reserved for published content

Help available

Online Help and Documentation

• DOAJ guide to applying
• https://doaj.org/apply/guide/
• Creative Commons license chooser
• https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/
• DOAJ helpdesk
• helpdesk@doaj.org