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Armstrong Science Library: 9am - 5pm

When a work is published, you may give up your rights to the copying and distribution of your own work.

If you contract with a publisher, the publisher typically controls the publication of your original work and assumes copyright of the work. Although this saves you much of the burden of advertising, producing, and distributing your work, you may give up some or all of the rights you originally held that directly affect your role as educator and scholar.

For example, unless you receive permission from the publisher, and depending upon a fair use judgment, you may no longer have the right to the following:

  • Authorize copies of your work for inclusion in a course pack
  • Place a digital copy of your work on Middlebury’s Institutional Repository
  • Place a digital copy of your work on a professional society’s web site, or any other open access digital archive
  • Distribute a copy (in print or via email or the internet) to colleagues and students

Retain Your Rights 

Negotiate with a publisher to retain your rights in connection to any personal, professional or nonprofit educational activities for which you may want to make and control copies of your work. Read all the agreements carefully before you sign them.

  • Add an “author amendment or addendum” to the publishing agreement to retain rights.
  • Grant the College basic rights for use of your work on its web sites (Canvas, electronic reserves, etc.)
  • Grant only those rights that the publisher strictly requires to publish the work.
  • Keep all other rights, specifically those of value to you (such as making unlimited copies for educational purposes at the College or elsewhere).

Suggested Practice

  • Negotiate to keep those rights which are important to you.
  • Having raised the issue of your authorial rights, send the publisher a copy of the author amendment or addendum that you would like to include in your contract.
  • Once you have reached agreement on the language of the provisions, write a cover letter acknowledging the publisher’s cooperation and noting the inclusion of the amendment/addendum. Then mail the contract, amendment, and cover letter to the publisher.
  • Get a signed acceptance of your amendment confirmed by the publisher.
  • Keep a copy of all paperwork for your records.
  • Upload a copy of your work to our institutional repository once it is allowed.
  • Even if you are unable to obtain the right to post your work to your web site or institutional repository now, the publisher may grant those rights in the future. Retain a copy of your work so it may be easily posted at a later date.