[GOAL] Freeing up older works a publisher has locked up? Ask for the contract

[Heather Morrison]

For authors wishing to free up older works a publisher has paywalled, clarifying copyright status can be a conundrum. Who keeps copies of those copyright transfer agreements and correspondence for articles published decades ago? In brief, my suggestion if you can't find the contract and the publisher does not provide clear guidance that makes it possible for you to share older works:  ask the publisher for a copy of YOUR contract.

This may be true on the publisher's end as well. Much of the content in today's "big deal" journal packages of one publisher was originally published by a great many different smaller publishers. It seems reasonable to assume that there were variations in practice. 

The language of long-ago contracts probably varied from one publisher to a other. The backfiles of a single journal that went through several acquisitions may reflect several different contracts, with many unclear situations during the transfer process. For example, some of my publications were solicited and accepted by one publisher but published by another due to ownership transfer during the publication process. What I and the first publisher had agreed to and what the second publisher expected did not match. Contract language may also vary over time even with the same publisher. 

The tendencies of authors and publishers to tweak agreements likely varies (I've always been a tweaker). I would also expect that there has been variation in diligence in obtaining all the rights needed, record-keeping practices and effectiveness of record transfer from one publisher to another. 

Let's not make any assumptions about publisher rights! Authors: ask for a copy of the contract, and please share the language so that we can all figure out what it really means. If the publisher can't provide a copy of the contract, that's important, please share this information as well. 

best,

Heather Morrison