Just in time for Open Access Week, we are pleased to announce the launch of a brand-new online tool made with our allies at Creative Commons and designed to help authors navigate the “termination of transfer” provisions of U.S. copyright law. The theme of this year’s Open Access Week is “Open in Action” and our new tool helps creators take actionable steps to regain rights and make their work more accessible.

Complementing our efforts around rights reversions, the area of the law our tool helps clarify allows authors (or, in some cases, their family members) to regain rights to creative works signed away many years ago. Though these termination rights are an extremely powerful boon for authors and creators, exercising them can be daunting. The law is complex and difficult to navigate, requiring attention to detail and careful timing.

That is why we’ve partnered with Creative Commons to build an online tool to help clarify the law’s terms and make its intricate timing requirements easier to follow. Through a series of prompts, users enter information about a work, and the tool provides basic information about how the eligibility and timing of a right, along with suggestions on next steps that a creator may wish to take in securing rights.

Want to see it in action? Check out the demo video we’ve made, featuring Professor Sidonie Smith of the University of Michigan (and a member of our advisory board) that goes through the tool step by step.

Want to try it out? The new Termination of Transfer tool is currently in beta, and still needs your review and feedback. We encourage authors and creators to give it a try, and hope you’ll share your feedback via the public comments page. And, as always, you can contact us directly with any questions or suggestions. We are excited to share this new resource with you, and look forward to your comments.