Principles: balancing stakeholder interests in scholarship friendly copyright practices

Abstract

A working conference on copyright and universities took place in June 2001, Zwolle, the Netherlands. The conference theme emphasized copyright issues for universities with a particular focus on the management of intellectual property rather than on allocation of rights. An international delegation of participants agreed to collaborate on Copyright Management for Scholarship. A major outcome from the conference, was the agreement to develop a set of principles aimed at optimising access to scholarly information in all formats, explaining the underlying relationships of the stakeholders involved and providing a guide to good practice on copyright policies in universities. The principles are set within the framework laid out by the Tempe principles and the report 'Seizing the Moment - Scientists' Authorship Rights in the Digital Age' from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.