Contemplating journal submissions in your future? Do you know about the copyright issues associated with journal submissions?
You may be thinking about submitting to a journal for the first time. Or you may be thinking of submitting for the first time in a long time (publishers’ expectations of writers change over time). The information and suggestions given here may be helpful.
Today, grants of permission for using each item of third party copyrighted content is required for most journal submissions. Writers–and not journals–are responsible for obtaining permissions and paying fees for the use of copyrighted material in submitted articles. Permission is required for text, graphs, charts, figures, maps, quotations, art images, and so on. And don’t count on relying on a fair use claim instead of requesting permission. Most journal submissions likely will not accept this approach.
Journals you are submitting to may require that these permissions be granted in perpetuity. This means that the grant of permission to use someone else’s copyrighted material in your article has no stipulation of a period of time for this particular use. There would be no time limit on the specific use the grant outlines, but remember the grant applies only to the particular article in question, that is . . . the particular article published in the journal you name in your permission request.
Journals will require you to confirm that you are the author of the work you are submitting. If someone else has contributed to the work, name them as contributors. Be sure that the other contributor is informed of the submission, consents to it, and that the legal issues of copyright ownership are ironed out before you submit.
Some journals may ask that you allow them to retain your email address and that you notify them immediately if this contact information changes. Keeping your contact information current is very important if you wish to have control over your intellectual property. If the publication has no way of contacting you or passing along your contact information to those wishing to use your work, you may be missing an opportunity for a wider reader base and even for a fee payment in some cases!
See next week’s blog for more information on submitting your work to journals.
Want More About Copyright Law?
Order your copy of Copyright Clearance for Creatives for a basic overview of copyright law and essential guidelines on when, how, and where to get permission to use copyright content in your works.