Author Agreements: Know What You're Signing
Non-Exclusive License
A non-exclusive license is a type of license where the copyright holder (the person or entity that owns the rights to a creative work) grants permission for others to use or reproduce the work without transferring ownership. This means that the copyright holder retains the rights to the work and can continue to use it and license it to others.
Non-exclusive licenses are often used when the copyright holder wants to allow multiple parties to use the work at the same time. For example, if a researcher shares a research paper under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, this means that anyone can use and share the paper as long as they give attribution to the original author, but the original author still owns the copyright and can continue to use and distribute the paper as they see fit.
Non-exclusive licenses can also be used to allow the copyright holder to license the work to one party for a specific use, while retaining the ability to license it to others for different uses. For example, a photographer can license the use of a photo to a magazine for an article, while still retaining the ability to license the same photo to a stock image company for use in other publications.
Example of a non-exclusive journal license
Exclusive License
An exclusive license is a type of license where the copyright holder grants permission for only one party to use or reproduce the work. This means that the copyright holder cannot use or license the work to anyone else without the exclusive license holder's permission.
Exclusive licenses are often used when the copyright holder wants to give one party the exclusive rights to use or reproduce the work for a specific period of time or for a specific purpose. For example, an author may grant an exclusive license to a publisher to produce and distribute a book, or a musician may grant an exclusive license to a record label to produce and distribute an album.
Exclusive licenses can also be used to allow the copyright holder to license the work to one party for a specific use, while retaining the ability to license it to others for different uses. For example, a video game developer can license the exclusive rights to a video game to a single publisher for the console market, while still retaining the ability to license the same game to other publishers for the PC market.
Example of an exclusive journal license
Copyright Transfer
A copyright transfer is a legal process in which the copyright holder (usually the author who has created a research work) transfers ownership of the copyright to another party. This means that the original copyright holder no longer has any rights to the work, and the new owner has complete control over how the work is used, distributed, and monetized.
Copyright transfers are often used in academic publishing, where researchers transfer the ownership of their research work to a publisher in exchange for publication and dissemination. In many cases, academic journals and publishers require researchers to transfer the copyright to their work as a condition of publication. This allows the publisher to have the exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and sell the work.
It's important to note that the copyright transfer must be in writing and must be signed by the copyright holder or their authorized representative, otherwise the transfer is not valid. Additionally, copyright transfer agreements often include specific language regarding how the work can be used, distributed, and monetized, so it's important for academic researchers to review the agreement carefully before signing and consider the implications it may have on the future use of their research.
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