Academic publishing under Droit D'Auteur

Mike Holderness http://www.poptel.org.uk/nuj/mike wrote:
>
> On Sunday I was in Brussels, drafting a response to A Very August
> UK Academic Institution over their claim that they needed assignment
> of all rights in some work I'd done.
>
> "Hang on", I thought, "I'm sitting in a Droit D'Auteur jurisdiction.
> They can neither demand nor assign all rights. The concept is not so
> much illegal as a syntax error. How do academics, and academic
> publishers, do it here?"

Most publishers of research materials that I know deal primarily with authors rather than with institutions and journal publishers often use the same contract form worldwide. Major exceptions usually involve a symposium where contributors are informed in advance that participation will involve giving up some rights.

I would examine the agreement with the Very August UK Academic Institution to see where I stand. The fact that they are asking for assignment at this point suggests they had overlooked this detail. I would also find out what they plan to do with my work if I acquiesce, whether it would be beneficial to me in terms of recognition, and whether I would continue to have the right to use my work without interference.

If this request is related to the recent initiative by universities to own faculty copyrights in order to frustrate publishers' incentive to invest in my work, I would seek commitments for dissemination superior to other opportunities.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com Received on Fri Feb 14 1997 - 16:17:42 GMT