A Licence to Publish encourages free and open access to research

In 2006 KE issued a study on publicly funded research, including a License to Publish as open as possible

1 October 2006 - 1 October 2006,  00:00 - 00:00, 

In 2006 Knowledge Exchange created a Licence to Publish to address copyright issues for digital publications to be made freely and openly available as quickly as possible, to all who want access.

The main features of the Licence to Publish (2006)

The main features of the Licence to Publish were:

  • Copyright in the published work remains with the author
  • The author grants the publisher a licence to publish the work
  • The licence takes effect as soon as the publisher has indicated that it wishes to publish the work
  • Once the article has been published, the author can make it publicly accessible in the form in which it was published by publisher by making it available as part of a digital scientific collection, a 'repository'.
  • If the publisher so requests, the start of public accessibility can be delayed for a maximum of six months.

By signing the Licence to Publish and sending it to his/her publisher, the author granted the publisher a sole licence for certain copyright related acts which have an economic or commercial objective with respect to the article.

Other information on the Licence to Publish:

  • LtP ensured that authors retain rights for scholarly purposes
  • LtP could deal with more authors for one publication and more publications by one author
  • LtP endorsed by the KE partners (in 2006: Jisc, DFG, SURF and DEFF)
  • LtP was supported by a website with copyright toolkit (unfortunately unavailable)
copyright toolbox