Publication Rights FAQ

Why do I now have to to fill a Transfer of Copyright agreement?

In the majority of cases the standard Transfer of Copyright agreement completed by the corresponding author will continue to be sufficient. However, copyright itself can be very complicated (see Copyright Rights FAQ for more details on copyright). Not all authors have the same rights to their work or the legal ability to transfer rights to another entity.

Does every author of each manuscript have to fill out a Transfer of Copyright agreement?

No. We only need a representative from each type of agreement (Transfer of Copyright or Grant of Publication Rights) to sign a form.

Isn’t it possible for the corresponding author to fill out all the agreements on behalf of all coauthors?

No. We need a single representative from each group to sign the appropriate agreement. For example, a non-Government employee cannot sign a Grant of Publication Rights on behalf of a Government and a Government employee cannot transfer copyright.

Why can’t US, UK, Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand government employees just sign the traditional APS Transfer of Copyright agreement?

Research conducted by employees of many Government agencies belong to the sponsoring Government. Therefore, the employees do not have the legal right to transfer copyright to the Encyclopedia. Instead, for US Government employees, the work is in the public domain and copyright does not hold. For UK, Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand Government employees, the Crown or Government retains copyright and publishers are granted a license to publish the work.