Page 171 - How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 8th Edition 8th Edition

Page 193
Copyrights, ownership of all articles contained in the issue effectively passed from the authors to the publisher.

The Copyright Act of 1976, which became effective on 1 January 1978, requires that henceforth this assignment may
no longer be assumed; it must be in writing. In the absence of a written transfer of copyright, the publisher is
presumed to have acquired only the privilege of publishing the article in the journal itself; the publisher would then
lack the right to produce reprints, photocopies, and microfilms or to license others to do so (or to legally prevent
others from doing so). Also, the Copyright Act stated that copyright protection begins "when the pen leaves the paper"
(equivalent today to "when the fingers leave the keyboard"), thus recognizing the intellectual property rights of
authors as being distinct from the process of publication.

Therefore, most publishers now require that each author contributing to a journal assign copyright to the publisher,
either at the time the manuscript is submitted or at the time that it is accepted for publication. To effect this
assignment, the publisher provides each submitting author with a document usually titled "Copyright Transfer Form."
Figure 13 depicts the form recommended by the CBE Journal Procedures and Practices Committee (1987).

Another feature of the new Copyright Act that is of interest to authors deals with photocopying. On the one hand,
authors wish to see their papers receive wide distribution. On the other hand, they do not (we hope) want this to take
place at the expense of the journals. Thus, the new law reflects these conflicting interests by defining as "fair use"
certain

Page 197

file:///C|/...0208%20Books%20(part%201%20of%203)/How%20to%20write%20&%20publish%20scientific%20paper/31.htm[4/27/2009 1:26:12 PM]