What are you allowed to do with your own publication?

Your freedom to use your own material depends on the agreements you have made with your publisher.

These agreements supersede the provisions of the Copyright Act.

 They may cover subjects such as:

  • reuse in a reader;
  • sending by email;
  • publishing on a website;
  • storing in Hanze UAS' own repository;
  • use in future educational projects;
  • adaptations after publication.

Types of agreements with publishers and their consequences

  • Written agreement

In the case of a written agreement, there are several options:

 

Type of agreement

What does this mean in practice?

You transfer copyright to the publisher.
  • The publisher is then entitled to use the work in any way it sees fit;
  • You will no longer have any control over your work, and will have to ask the publisher for permission.

You grant the publisher an exclusive license.
  • You do not transfer your copyright;
  • The publisher has full usage rights and can use the material in any way it sees fit;
  • you will have to ask the publisher for permission.

You grant the publisher a non-exclusive license.
  • You reach clear agreements with the publisher on the uses of your work;
  • The publisher may only use the materials in the manner described in the agreement;
  • This type of agreement is preferable according to the Hanze UAS Open Access and Open Science publication policies.
  • Verbal agreement

A verbal agreement on the publication of your work generally only authorises the publication of an article in the relevant journal issue. Other than that, you are free to decide how you want to use the article.

This does not constitute a transfer of copyright, which always requires a written contract. While the journal's publication details section may specify the nature of your authorisation, this has no legal value.

The lecturer as a content creator

As a lecturer, you will also frequently author or produce information. For example, you may write an article in a professional journal or create video or audio recordings as part of your educational activities. 

 

According to the Copyright Act, the creator of a work is also, in principle, the copyright owner.

In cases where a publication was created in service of the employer, the exploitation rights will be transferred to the latter party (Section 7 of the Copyright Act) unless agreements to the contrary have been reached. While you will always remain the creator of the work in question (a presentation, a lesson, a knowledge clip etc.), your employer will be the rightful owner. 

 

Hanze UAS is thus the copyright holder of all products produced by lecturers and researchers insofar as they have an employment contract with Hanze UAS and insofar as they produced these products in the context of their professional duties.

Execution of copyright

As the copyright holder, Hanze UAS is the only party formally entitled to conclude agreements with publishers.

 

However, Hanze UAS allows its employees to exercise their own copyright. The employee must conform to the principles set out in chapter 3 of the Hanze UAS Publication Policy Memorandum, and publish all works under an Open Access license unless there are any compelling reasons not to do so.

 Read more about open access publishing in the Library Guide

 

Clear agreements on the use of the material must be reached with the publishers. After all, you want to avoid situations where your rights to distribute and use your own materials are transferred exclusively to the publisher.

If you are considering publishing in a specific journal, visit the SHERPA/RoMEO website in advance for more information on the publisher's copyright and local archiving policies. 

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