Posting Freelancers' Work on the Web. (Legal).Q: Before we agree to print articles in our association's publications, we have the authors sign an agreement transferring their rights to us to print and reprint reprint An individually bound copy of an article in a journal or science communication their work. We now want to post the articles on our Web site. Do we need to get additional permissions from authors? A: Yes. Copyright law considers authors' ownership as consisting of a basket full of many rights, each of which authors can transfer to others or retain for themselves. The right to print an article and reprint it are two of the rights in that basket. On June 25, 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Company, Inc. v. Tasini that the right to place individual articles on the Internet in text-searchable form separate and apart from the original format is a right that is distinct from printing or reprinting. As a result, a publisher, who has been given the rights to print and reprint an article, must get additional, specific permission to republish re·pub·lish tr.v. re·pub·lished, re·pub·lish·ing, re·pub·lish·es 1. To publish again. 2. Law To revive (a libel or a canceled will). it on the Internet. If the agreement with your authors does not specify that you have the right to republish their articles separately in a text-searchable form on your Web site, you will be violating their copyright. To avoid this potential problem in the future, associations can revise their authors' contracts to include an all-media clause that would include posting articles on the Web site, Submitted by James A. Woehike, counsel, New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants Certified Public Accountant (CPA) An accountant who has met certain standards, including experience, age, and licensing, and passed exams in a particular state. , New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Woehike is a member of the ASAE ASAE American Society of Association Executives ASAE American Society of Agricultural Engineers (Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems) ASAE Alkali-Sulfite-Anthraquinone-Ethanol Legal Section Council. The "Legal" item is not intended as legal advice but rather as an educational overview. |
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