Introduction

Within the DRIVER project, work package seven consists of several introductory studies regarding topics relating to setting up and maintaining digital repositories. Difficulties with solving copyrights problems often hamper the filling of digital repositories and hinder a smooth management of the repository. Questions about ownership of the works in the repository, or getting permission to use a work in accordance with the ideas and principles of open access frequently take a lot of time or even hinder the creation of a fully accessible repository. Examples or models to overcome the copyright problems would be most helpful. Therefore, within the context of the DRIVER study, a study on intellectual property which provides examples and models is indispensable.

The aim of this inventory study is threefold. Firstly it gives an overview of copyright and other intellectual rights relevant for digital repositories. Secondly it provides insight in what (study and experimental) work on intellectual property is already being done in the EU. Furthermore the study provides models to continue working with and for developing digital repositories in the EU context, in order to arrive at sustainable development and operation at the local, national and international levels. It is written for those who are involved in the process of setting up a repository, or those who are running one.

The starting point of this study is the central position of the author in the landscape of scholarly information. It examines the legal relationships an author has to go into to make his work fully openly available. The background for this study is the open access principle as articulated in various declarations regarding open access. Three different relationships are the subject of the study: the legal relationship between the author and his/her institution, the legal relationship between the author and the publisher, and the legal relationship between the author and society.

The relationship author-institution will cover the topics of copyright ownership of scholarly publications and copyright policies. The strand authorpublisher goes into the matter of the key needs for authors and publishers, publishing agreements and the principles an author might take into account when publishing an article in a journal that is not an open access journal. The relationship author-society is a more complex one. The terms and conditions under which a work can be made available will be discussed. The digital deposit licence is the most important topic here.