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Copyright Guide

This guide will help you to find out how copyright affects your study, research and work here at the University of Derby. Please note that information on these pages is for guidance only: it should not be construed as formal legal advice.

Research, Publishing and Copyright

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Researchers and University of Derby Policies

Please read the revised Intellectual Property policies for employees and students in conjunction with the revised Publication and Open Access policy. The University of Derby has recently implemented Rights Retention Strategy to support researchers in retaining their copyright to their Author Accepted Manuscript. This will affect any articles submitted to a publisher from the 1st October 2024. 


Researchers owning their copyright to scholastic works

The University recognises that, subject to third party agreements, it waives its rights of ownership of copyright in Research Publications (as defined in the Intellectual Property Policies for employees and students), which means that copyright is owned by the authors of the scholastic works and that they have the right to publish research in the venue of their choice. Please be aware that unless otherwise specified in your contract of employment, copyright for any material you have created as part of your paid role will belong by default to the University. 

 

Researchers granting a licence to the University

  • The Intellectual Property Policies for both employees and students establish that the University is granted a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, in all formats (now known or yet to be devised), sub-licensable, non-exclusive licence by researchers to use, copy, publish and distribute for academic (i.e. research and teaching), promotional and administrative purposes, Research Publications created by authors as defined above, including for archival and Open Access purposes.

 

Researchers retaining their rights to their AAM

For the purposes of Rights Retention, at the point of submission to the publisher, the University requires that the submitted Author Accepted Manuscript includes wording advising the publisher of the intention to retain rights. Appropriate wording can be found in the guide Research Publication, Open Access and Rights Retention Policy - a dedicated guide to support University of Derby researchers with Rights Retention. 

 

Researchers submit their AAM to UDORA from the date of acceptance

Upon acceptance for publication, authors will submit an electronic copy of the AAM of each research publication (at no charge) to UDORA as soon as possible from the date of acceptance for publication and no later than the first online date of publication in an electronic format. The Library will deposit and therefore make open the manuscript in a manner that will comply with any specific research funder requirements

Authors will submit the AAM to UDORA under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0) licence which grants permissions for reuse, unless there is a valid reason to use a different licence (such as a funder requirement or an Open Government Licence for research subject to Crown copyright).

 

Support for Researchers

Please read our dedicated guide Research Publication, Open Access and Rights Retention policy for help and support. There is lots of information for example, on the benefits of retaining your rights, what to do if you encounter any issues with publishers, funder requirements and a list of FAQs. The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances where it is not possible to comply with this Policy. In this case it may be permissible for the author to opt out of the requirement for immediate Open Access. Further information about exceptional circumstances can be found here.