Legal position
Who owns or controls the relevant rights, under which jurisdiction and facts? This may require institutional or legal review.
Author rights / Decision record
Can I use this version of this work?
Name the work, version, intended use, and controlling documents before relying on a publisher-policy summary. The answer can remain unknown until the evidence is complete.
Sources checked September 22, 2026 · Edition 2026.09.22-rights-1
Start the record / Decision 01
Work and claimant
Which work is being used, and who may control the relevant rights?
Identify the article, every author, employment or work-made-for-hire issue, institution, sponsor, third-party material, and the person authorized to sign.
Evidence to keep: Authorship and employment records, award terms, contributor permissions, and the exact work or component being analyzed.
Work through all six decisionsSources and scope · Guide reviewed September 22, 2026
- Coverage
- Publishing agreements, manuscript versions, planned reuse, public-access routes, open licenses, and third-party material
- Source basis
- U.S. Copyright Office, NISO, SPARC, Jisc, NIH, and Creative Commons primary sources
Prepared by the Manusights editorial team. Publisher and institutional instructions take precedence.
Five-page publishing agreement evidence record
Author rights decision record
Record the work, version, planned use, controlling instruments, exact clauses, public-access routes, open-license boundaries, decision, and evidence archive. Licensed CC BY 4.0 for the original Manusights framework.
- Edition
- 2026.09.22-rights-1
- Format
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- Evidence reviewed
- September 22, 2026
Decision boundary
Ownership, permission, and policy are not synonyms
Under U.S. law, copyright initially vests in the author or authors, subject to exceptions such as work made for hire, and individual exclusive rights can be transferred separately. A publishing decision still depends on the exact work, version, agreement, intended use, other applicable rights, and jurisdiction. Source A
Contract position
What did the signed publishing agreement and any accepted addendum grant, reserve, require, or restrict?
Operational route
Which version can be used, where, when, by whom, and under what notice, license, or access conditions?
Not legal advice: this resource helps a researcher assemble and compare evidence. It does not decide ownership, interpret an agreement, resolve conflicting instruments, or determine whether an exception such as fair use applies.
Original Manusights framework
Six layers turn a vague rights question into a reviewable record
Complete the layers in order. A later layer cannot repair an unidentified work, ambiguous version, or missing signed agreement.
- 1
Work and claimant
Which work is being used, and who may control the relevant rights?
Decision record
Identify the article, every author, employment or work-made-for-hire issue, institution, sponsor, third-party material, and the person authorized to sign.
Evidence of completion
Authorship and employment records, award terms, contributor permissions, and the exact work or component being analyzed.
- 2
Version
Is this the submitted manuscript, accepted manuscript, proof, or Version of Record?
Decision record
Name the NISO version, file identifier, acceptance date, publication date, DOI when assigned, and whether publisher processing has been incorporated.
Evidence of completion
A preserved file whose version can be distinguished from adjacent stages without relying on the file extension alone.
- 3
Intended use
What exact action, destination, audience, and timing are planned?
Decision record
Separate repository deposit, personal-site posting, teaching distribution, conference reuse, translation, adaptation, commercial reuse, and third-party sharing into individual decisions.
Evidence of completion
One use statement per action, including the version, destination, access level, date, territory, and whether changes will be made.
- 4
Controlling instruments
Which documents grant, reserve, restrict, or require the planned use?
Decision record
Preserve the signed agreement and addendum, applicable award terms, funder policy, institutional policy, journal policy, repository terms, and any open license or permission.
Evidence of completion
A dated source bundle with exact clauses or policy locators. A journal webpage is not a substitute for the signed agreement.
- 5
Conflict and uncertainty
Do the instruments agree, and what remains unresolved?
Decision record
Compare scope, version, destination, timing, exclusivity, retained uses, sublicensing, attribution, change marking, and third-party exclusions. Record conflicts without choosing a legal winner.
Evidence of completion
A use-by-use matrix that shows allowed, restricted, unclear, or not applicable, with the evidence and escalation owner.
- 6
Action and archive
What must happen before signing, sharing, or reusing?
Decision record
Choose sign as written, request clarification, propose an addendum, obtain permission, change the version or destination, or pause for institutional or legal review.
Evidence of completion
A dated decision, responsible person, correspondence, final signed documents, deposited file, public locator, and future review trigger.
Version control
A file format is not a manuscript version
NISO distinguishes the Author's Original, Submitted Manuscript Under Review, Accepted Manuscript, Proof, Version of Record, Corrected Version of Record, and Enhanced Version of Record. The typology is independent of whether a file is PDF, Word, HTML, or XML. Source B
Before review
Author's Original or Submitted Manuscript Under Review
Accepted
Accepted Manuscript, before publisher content processing
Production
Proof, during copy-editing and page composition
Published
Version of Record, then corrected or enhanced versions if formally updated
Version identification answers what the object is. It does not answer whether a particular use is permitted.
Use-specific analysis
One planned action per evidence row
A permission that supports one version, destination, or audience may not support another. Split compound plans before reading the agreement.
Deposit in a repository
- Must match
- Version, named repository or repository class, access timing, required statement, and any funder or institutional route.
- Do not infer
- Permission to post an accepted manuscript does not automatically authorize the Version of Record or every destination.
Share on a lab or personal site
- Must match
- Version, site type, public access, timing, attribution, DOI link, and any required notice.
- Do not infer
- A repository permission does not necessarily extend to a personal site or commercial network.
Teach or distribute internally
- Must match
- Audience, number of copies, course or institutional context, platform, duration, and whether the material will be altered.
- Do not infer
- A retained teaching right may be narrower than public posting or inclusion in a reusable course pack.
Reuse a figure or table
- Must match
- Exact component, ownership, source credit, modification, new publication, language, format, territory, and commercial status.
- Do not infer
- Authorship of the article does not prove control of every figure, image, map, instrument, or underlying work.
Translate, adapt, or build upon
- Must match
- Derivative-work permission, change marking, attribution, integrity or moral-right concerns, third-party material, and downstream license.
- Do not infer
- Permission to reproduce an unchanged work does not automatically authorize an adaptation.
Apply or rely on an open license
- Must match
- Exact license and version, licensor authority, covered material, attribution, adaptation, commercial-use, and ShareAlike conditions.
- Do not infer
- A CC notice covers only rights the licensor can grant; it does not clear excluded third-party content or every privacy, publicity, trademark, or patent issue.
Agreement anatomy
Extract six clause families before drawing a conclusion
Grant or transfer
Extract: Rights named, exclusive or nonexclusive status, whole or partial scope, media, language, territory, term, and effective event.
Watch: A heading such as license or copyright does not reveal the operative scope. Read the actual grant.
Retained author uses
Extract: Teaching, research, colleague sharing, thesis, future works, presentations, repository, personal site, and figure or table reuse.
Watch: Retained rights may have version, destination, timing, notice, or noncommercial limits.
Public-access route
Extract: Required manuscript version, repository, deposit event, public-release date, rights statement, and responsible actor.
Watch: Publisher policy, funder rights, institutional rights, and the signed contract may be different instruments.
Publisher powers
Extract: Sublicensing, enforcement, commercialization, adaptations, translations, derivative products, and use of author name or likeness.
Watch: A broad sublicense or derivative-work power can matter even when the author nominally retains copyright.
Author promises
Extract: Originality, noninfringement, permissions, confidentiality, conflicts, warranties, indemnity, and responsibility for coauthor authorization.
Watch: Promises about third-party material can create obligations beyond the reuse rights the author receives.
Change and exit
Extract: Publisher editing authority, author approval, correction or retraction process, termination, reversion, governing law, venue, and survival clauses.
Watch: A right that exists only after termination or reversion is not available before the required event and process.
Addendum boundary: SPARC presents its Author Addendum as a proposed modification that can request specified retained rights. It does not become part of the agreement merely because it was attached or sent. Preserve acceptance, modification, or rejection evidence. Source C
Public-access example
A funder route is specific, dated, and versioned
The current NIH policy applies to in-scope Author Accepted Manuscripts accepted on or after July 1, 2025. It requires submission to PubMed Central upon acceptance and public availability without embargo on the Official Date of Publication. NIH separately describes the Government Use License and suggested transparency language. Source E Source F
Scope
Confirm the award, article, acceptance date, and current definitions.
Version
The route is stated for the Author Accepted Manuscript.
Destination
The named repository is PubMed Central.
Timing
Deposit upon acceptance; public on the Official Date of Publication.
Do not generalize this route to another funder, award, manuscript, version, repository, or use.
Open-license boundary
Open does not mean unbounded
Creative Commons offers six main licenses built from BY, SA, NC, and ND conditions. For example, CC BY permits distribution and adaptation, including commercial use, with attribution. Always name the exact license and version. Source G
Confirm authority
Identify who applied the license and whether that person or organization controlled the rights being licensed. A public license notice is not proof that every included component was owned by the licensor.
Mark exclusions
Creative Commons advises that a license covers only rights the licensor holds and that third-party content should be identified separately. Other rights can remain outside the license. Source H
Decision audit
Eight tests before signing, sharing, or reusing
Run each test independently. A clear policy summary cannot compensate for an unknown version, missing contract, or excluded third-party component.
Identity test
Pass: The exact work, claimant, signatory authority, and third-party components are named.
Repair: Do not infer ownership from corresponding-authorship status or possession of the file.
Version test
Pass: The file is classified by publication stage and linked to the acceptance and publication record.
Repair: Do not classify a version from PDF, Word, pagination, or a filename alone.
Use test
Pass: Each proposed action names its version, destination, timing, audience, and modification status.
Repair: Replace broad questions such as can I share this with one use-specific statement at a time.
Instrument test
Pass: The signed agreement and every applicable policy, license, addendum, and award term have stable locators.
Repair: Retrieve missing instruments instead of treating a policy directory or journal page as the contract.
Clause test
Pass: The exact language supporting or limiting the use is copied with a page or section locator.
Repair: Replace memory, custom, or a publisher-family assumption with the controlling text.
Conflict test
Pass: Differences among contract, funder, institution, journal, repository, and license are visible and unresolved conflicts are escalated.
Repair: Do not silently choose which instrument prevails.
Third-party test
Pass: Every excluded or separately owned component has its own status and permission evidence.
Repair: Do not extend an article-level license to material the licensor does not control.
Archive test
Pass: The final decision, correspondence, signed documents, shared file, public locator, and review trigger are preserved.
Repair: Keep the evidence beside the action so a later user does not reconstruct the decision from memory.
Evidence and maintenance
Primary-source record and limits
The web guide, PDF, and source ledger share one edition. Each source has a stated purpose and a boundary to prevent it from being stretched beyond what it supports.
- ACopyright Ownership and Transfer, 17 U.S.C. Chapter 2
U.S. Copyright Office / Sections 201, 202, and 204. Supports: U.S.-specific starting points for initial ownership, work made for hire, separate ownership of exclusive rights, the distinction between copyright and the physical copy, and signed-writing requirements for transfers.
Boundary: This is United States law. Ownership, moral rights, employee works, and formalities differ across jurisdictions and fact patterns.
- BJournal Article Versions (JAV), NISO RP-8-2008
National Information Standards Organization / Recommended terms, definitions, and use cases. Supports: Distinguishing Author's Original, Submitted Manuscript Under Review, Accepted Manuscript, Proof, Version of Record, Corrected Version of Record, and Enhanced Version of Record independently of file format.
Boundary: The 2008 recommended practice is under revision. Version identification does not itself determine permission.
- CAuthor Rights and the SPARC Author Addendum
SPARC / Author Addendum overview and U.S. form. Supports: Using a proposed addendum to request specified retained rights such as teaching, research distribution, site posting, and derivative works.
Boundary: An addendum is a proposed contractual modification, not an automatically accepted right or substitute for local legal review.
- DOpen Policy Finder
Jisc / Service scope and policy-record description. Supports: Finding reviewed summaries of publisher, journal, and funder open-access policies, plus compliance and agreement discovery tools.
Boundary: A policy-finder record is a research aid. Verify the current underlying policy and the signed agreement for the exact article.
- E2024 NIH Public Access Policy Overview
National Institutes of Health / Policy requirements effective July 1, 2025. Supports: For in-scope Author Accepted Manuscripts accepted on or after July 1, 2025, submission to PubMed Central upon acceptance and public availability without embargo on the Official Date of Publication.
Boundary: This is one funder-specific policy. Confirm award scope, article scope, dates, definitions, and current NIH instructions.
- FNIH Government Use License and Rights Guidance
National Institutes of Health / NOT-OD-25-049, rights and communication sections. Supports: NIH's described Government Use License, the PMC submission statement, no-embargo public availability route, and suggested transparency language during journal submission.
Boundary: Do not generalize NIH rights language to another funder, award, manuscript, or use. The supplied language may evolve.
- GCreative Commons License Types
Creative Commons / Six license types and license-element summaries. Supports: The permissions and core conditions represented by BY, SA, NC, and ND, including that CC BY permits distribution and adaptation, including commercial use, with attribution.
Boundary: Identify the exact license and version. A license applies only within its legal scope and only to rights the licensor can grant.
- HMarking Third-Party Content in a CC-Licensed Work
Creative Commons / Noting third-party content in your work. Supports: A CC license covers only rights the licensor holds; incorporated third-party content should be identified and attributed with its separate status.
Boundary: A CC notice does not clear third-party copyright, privacy, publicity, personality, trademark, patent, or other rights.
Scope: A decision and evidence record for researchers reviewing a journal publishing agreement, planned sharing route, or reuse request. It provides educational information, not legal advice, and does not determine rights under any particular agreement or jurisdiction. Recheck all primary sources after a material legal, funder, standards, licensing, or service change and no later than 90 days after this review. At the time of use, verify the exact signed agreement, current journal policy, funder terms, institutional policy, repository destination, manuscript version, and jurisdiction.
Common questions
Keep the instruments separate
Does retaining copyright mean I can post or reuse every version anywhere?
No. Copyright ownership, a publishing agreement, retained rights, a funder or institutional license, a repository policy, and an open license are separate instruments. Identify the exact version and intended use, then verify the language that governs that use.
Can a publisher policy page or Open Policy Finder record replace my agreement?
No. Policy services are useful research starting points, but a signed agreement or accepted addendum may contain article-specific terms. Preserve the current policy source and the executed documents, then compare their scopes and dates.
Does a Creative Commons license cover every figure and data element in an article?
Not automatically. A Creative Commons license covers only rights the licensor can grant. Third-party images, instruments, maps, marks, personal information, and other excluded material can have separate rights or permissions. Identify exclusions visibly.
Does the SPARC Author Addendum automatically preserve author rights?
No. SPARC describes the addendum as an instrument an author can use to propose changes to a non-open-access publishing agreement. The publisher must accept the applicable modification. Keep the proposed language, response, and final signed documents together.
Cite this resource
Citation formats
Free to use and cite, with attribution. See the reuse policy for what you may republish.
- APA
- Manusights. (2026). Author rights decision record. Edition 2026.09.22-rights-1. https://manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide
- MLA
- Manusights. "Author Rights Decision Record." Manusights, 22 Sept. 2026, https://manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide.
- Vancouver
- Manusights. Author rights decision record [Internet]. 2026 Sep 22. Available from: https://manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide