“Who Owns Your Scholarship? Copyright, Publication Agreements, and Good Policy” was the title of a short workshop that I attended today. The speaker Kenneth Crews, was lively and very entertaining as he spoke for 2 hours about copyright. Yes, I know 2 HOURS! But there is a lot to know about copyright.
Having signed away my copyright many times for articles, book chapters and book reviews, it was good to hear Crews mentioned that yes, its realistic that you will have to sometimes sign away your rights (especially when you are starting out and need to publish), but just be aware for the next time and see if you can retain some of your copyrights in the future. He also said keep all your contracts, because you (and your heirs) will need them for 70 years past your death. 70 years after an author’s death is now the limit for copyright.
Oh, did I mention that they also had some nice snacks at the lecture? Library events (and some history and geography events I have attended) tend to have snacks, which is another good reason to attend.
