• The author is the copyright holder.
• The copyright holder possesses the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, public performance, public display, and modification of the original work.
• In order to get your work published, a publisher will typically ask you to transfer copyright in a signed agreement.
• Once copyrights have been transferred to the publisher, an author must ask permission to use your own work - unless applying copyright exemptions like Fair Use.  
• Transferring your copyright allows the publisher to make major decisions concerning the use of your work, even in educational or professional situations. That’s why it is important to retain some of your rights - whenever possible.

 Information adapted from DiMenna-Nyselius Library at Fairfield University.

Transferring copyright doesn’t have to be a zero sum game.  You can request to retain some of your rights.

Some options include:

• Choose a journal with beneficial archiving policies - search SHERPA-ROMEO
• Utilize an Open Access Agreement with a well established publisher (provided by VIVA, our library consortium)
• Publish your article in an Open Access Journal
• Request an alternative agreement using a Creative Commons License
• Negotiate with the publisher to amend an existing agreement using the SPARC Author Addendum