It may be August, but our rights reversion project shows no signs of slowing down for the dog days of summer. If anything, we’re gaining momentum in our efforts to support authors seeking to regain control of their work. In April of this year, we published an online guide to rights to reversion, and we recently received a shipment of beautifully produced hard copies from the printer.

Our community has found the guide to be clear and comprehensive, but even the most thorough investigation of a topic often raises more questions than it answers—especially when it comes to publication contracts.  In light of this, we are pleased to announce that Authors Alliance is now offering personal assistance with your rights reversion questions. Thanks to the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley and the support of the Mellon Foundation, we have the resources to help guide individuals through various aspects of the rights reversion process.

Even after reviewing the guide and your publication contract(s), you may have concerns or areas needing clarification. You may still be unsure whether you or your publisher holds copyright, and to what extent. You may have received a request to post work to your department website or deposit it with an open access repository, but still aren’t sure whether you need further permission. Or perhaps you may be stymied by unclear contract language, or not have a written contract at all. Whatever your circumstances, we invite you to contact us at reversions@authorsalliance.org to see if we can provide you with personal assistance.