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The Copyright law Revision of 1976 and the American Journal of Ophthalmology
VOL. 84, NO. 6
BOOK REVIEWS
ously successful society. We now look forward to an exciting, slimmer, and even more effective Academy, providing new and better services to its fellows. F R A N K W.
NEWELL
T H E COPYRIGHT LAW REVISION O F 1976 AND T H E AMERICAN JOURNAL O F OPHTHALMOLOGY The 1976 revision of the copyright law changes the previous relationship be tween the authors and the publishers of T H E A M E R I C A N JOURNAL O F O P H T H A L M O L O G Y . Under the 1909 law, transfer of
manuscripts to the publisher conveyed with it all rights except those explicitly retained or transferred elsewhere. Effec tive January 1, 1978, the publisher has only the right to reproduce and distribute the manuscript in a collective work (such as a complete issue of T H E J O U R N A L ) , any revision of the collective work, or a later issue in the same series. All rights to subsidiary publication of any single arti cle remain with the author or authors of that article unless transferred in writing. The right to reproduce the individual article, the right to prepare derivative works, and the right to distribute copies reside with each author. These may only be transferred in writing. " The two basic exceptions to the rule are as follows: 1. Works made for hire (the copyright resides with the editor for whom the work was prepared). 2. Works of the United States government—work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States govern ment as a part of that person's official duties. Explicit transfer of copyright is the key to policy changes that the publishers of T H E JOURNAL must consider. In order to
879
exercise additional rights, such as grant ing permission to reprint or translate a given article or the publication of a col lection of articles dealing with the same topic that have appeared in T H E J O U R NAL, we must secure the explicit, written, signed assignment of those rights from each author. In common with many periodical pub lishers we have developed and begun to use transfer documents to obtain all those rights we would otherwise lose after 1977. Although the law permits any writ ten and signed conveyance, potential legal problems may be reduced by docu ments that best show the existence of a valid contract, which has a legal object, is a written, mutual agreement voluntarily entered by parties of legal capacity, all of whom have signed it, and which ha§ an exchange of consideration. Since consid eration must be something of value, in its simplest form it may be the promise to publish and distribute in exchange for all rights to a manuscript. In the case of multiple authors we shall request the au thor submitting the typescript to obtain the signatures of co-authors. In requesting the transfer of all rights we have no intention of restricting or infringing on authors' rights to publish their material in a subsequent work of which they may be either author or editor. We do, however, seek to ensure the widest possible distribution of scientific infor mation and to facilitate its dissemination. M A R Y L. B O R Y S E W I C Z
BOOK REVIEWS Reading Aids for the Partially Sighted: A Systematic Classification and Proce dure for Prescribing. By Louise L. Sloan. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1977. Clothbound, 150 pages, table of contents, index, 13 tables, 38 black and white figures. $11.95
BOOK REVIEWS
ously successful society. We now look forward to an exciting, slimmer, and even more effective Academy, providing new and better services to its fellows. F R A N K W.
NEWELL
T H E COPYRIGHT LAW REVISION O F 1976 AND T H E AMERICAN JOURNAL O F OPHTHALMOLOGY The 1976 revision of the copyright law changes the previous relationship be tween the authors and the publishers of T H E A M E R I C A N JOURNAL O F O P H T H A L M O L O G Y . Under the 1909 law, transfer of
manuscripts to the publisher conveyed with it all rights except those explicitly retained or transferred elsewhere. Effec tive January 1, 1978, the publisher has only the right to reproduce and distribute the manuscript in a collective work (such as a complete issue of T H E J O U R N A L ) , any revision of the collective work, or a later issue in the same series. All rights to subsidiary publication of any single arti cle remain with the author or authors of that article unless transferred in writing. The right to reproduce the individual article, the right to prepare derivative works, and the right to distribute copies reside with each author. These may only be transferred in writing. " The two basic exceptions to the rule are as follows: 1. Works made for hire (the copyright resides with the editor for whom the work was prepared). 2. Works of the United States government—work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States govern ment as a part of that person's official duties. Explicit transfer of copyright is the key to policy changes that the publishers of T H E JOURNAL must consider. In order to
879
exercise additional rights, such as grant ing permission to reprint or translate a given article or the publication of a col lection of articles dealing with the same topic that have appeared in T H E J O U R NAL, we must secure the explicit, written, signed assignment of those rights from each author. In common with many periodical pub lishers we have developed and begun to use transfer documents to obtain all those rights we would otherwise lose after 1977. Although the law permits any writ ten and signed conveyance, potential legal problems may be reduced by docu ments that best show the existence of a valid contract, which has a legal object, is a written, mutual agreement voluntarily entered by parties of legal capacity, all of whom have signed it, and which ha§ an exchange of consideration. Since consid eration must be something of value, in its simplest form it may be the promise to publish and distribute in exchange for all rights to a manuscript. In the case of multiple authors we shall request the au thor submitting the typescript to obtain the signatures of co-authors. In requesting the transfer of all rights we have no intention of restricting or infringing on authors' rights to publish their material in a subsequent work of which they may be either author or editor. We do, however, seek to ensure the widest possible distribution of scientific infor mation and to facilitate its dissemination. M A R Y L. B O R Y S E W I C Z
BOOK REVIEWS Reading Aids for the Partially Sighted: A Systematic Classification and Proce dure for Prescribing. By Louise L. Sloan. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1977. Clothbound, 150 pages, table of contents, index, 13 tables, 38 black and white figures. $11.95