5/7/2008
Today, SURF is launching the English version of its website about copyright in higher education, especially for scholarly communcation: www.surf.nl/copyright-in-nl. This is a translation of the Dutch site (www.surf.nl/auteursrecht) that has been online since early in 2007. Since then, SURF has received numerous requests to make this information available for the many foreign scientists and scholars working at Dutch universities.
If an author transfers all of his rights exclusively to a publisher, this restricts the options for reusing the research results, for either teaching or research purposes. Doing so may also involve additional costs. Being more aware about copyright and using alternative licence models helps to optimise access to the publicly financed results of scientific and scholarly research and to reuse those results.
The website is aimed primarily at scientific and scholarly authors and tries to provide answers to such questions as: Why do I need to concern myself with copyright matters? Why is this important for me? What does the law say? What do I still need to arrange myself? The website explains a number of basic rules, gives background information, and provides authors of scientific publications and doctoral theses with practical advice on how to deal with copyright matters. All of this makes copyright easier than many people think.
When an author publishes, he enters into relationships with the institution for which he works, with the publisher, and with other users of the publication.
SURF’s new website provides information on the best way to regulate those relationships from the legal point of view for all the parties concerned, but particularly for the author.
Besides information for scientific or scholarly authors, the website also provides practical guidelines and background information for the other parties concerned: universities, publishers, and users.
SURFdirect, SURF’s digital rights community, identifies the legal aspects relevant to various topics in e-learning and e-science. The main aim of SURFdirect – acting within the mission of SURF (innovation, cooperation, and ICT) – is to develop services to tackle specific legal issues that may impede teaching and research. It may not always be possible to take full advantage of the opportunities opened up by digitisation and the Internet – for example improvements in access, storage, and exchange of information – if proper arrangements are not made regarding copyright. Each of the ‘players’ in this field has its own interests to pursue, and these often differ.
About SURF
SURF unites Dutch research universities, universities of applied sciences, and research institutions in creating pioneering ICT innovations. Their efforts enable these institutions to exploit the many opportunities offered by ICT in order to improve the quality of education and research. SURF consists of three organisations: SURFfoundation, SURFnet and SURFdiensten.
About SURFdirect
The SURF Digital Rights Expertise Community - SURFdirect - is a broad consortium within SURF, aimed at supporting higher education and research with legal matters regarding the making and reuse of text, images and audio.
More information
Please contact SURFfoundation, Annemiek van der Kuil , vanderkuil@surf.nl /
T +31 (0)30 234 6642