From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2015 10:52:29 +0000

Hi Ann,

This is such a difficult situation, and there is lots of information
needed before advising the student about any steps she should take.

First, what is her job situation and prospects/ambitions in her field?
Academic disciplines tend to be close and sometimes closed communities, so
she should consider whether raising a conflict with an established faculty
member might damage her future opportunities.  Sadly, sometimes ignoring
this type of misappropriation is the best course.

Second, it is important to establish what the misappropriation was.  Is
the complaint about outright plagiarism and/or copyright infringement, or
does the student mean that she was not credited as an author on a paper
for which she feels she did significant "research work?"  In the latter
case, many institutions have a process to adjudicate authorship disputes.

Third, what evidence does she have of the mis-appropriation?  "He said,
she said" type conflicts with faculty in academia seldom work out well for
the students.

Finally, she should remember that, under U.S. Law (not sure where this
dispute is taking place), a joint author, as co-owner of the copyright, is
entitled to publish even without the permission of other joint authors.
So if there is a colorable argument that the faculty member is a
co-author, there is not likely to be any recourse from the copyright
perspective.  See the case of Weinstein v. University of Illinois.

With all these caveats and pointers toward needed information, I would
ultimate suggest that, if the situation is genuinely a mis-appropriation
rather than an authorship dispute, and if the student really wants to
pursue it outside of the relationships and structures of her university,
that contacting the publisher is the appropriate step.  In most case then
will have received a copyright transfer for the work, and need to know if
there is a dispute about the validity of that transfer and their
subsequent right to publish.  The publisher has a legal relationship with
the putative author(s) who published the work, and that relationship is
the best lever the aggrieved student can employ.  But really, there are
very sound reasons why most disputes like this between faculty and
students never get to that point, and this student should consider her
position very carefully.  Often a single-minded pursuit of what the
student feels is justice will only result in greater harm.

Just my .02, but I give a lot of words for the price!

Kevin

Kevin L. Smith, M.L.S., J.D.
Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communications
Duke University Libraries
Durham, NC 27708
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On 4/22/15 8:13 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 19:50:33 -0400
>
>Dear All -- this group was most helpful with my recent posting of an
>African librarian's question (on an INASP copyright moodle) regarding
>license simplification.  Some good ideas were generated.
>
>So here's another live question.  How would you advise the librarian
>who has asked this:
>
>"What actions would you take if as a student you find out that your
>members or supervisors have published your research work without your
>permission?"
>
>It's not clear whether he is asking this for himself or on behalf of a
>student, but the question remains the same.  Thank you for your
>thoughts, Ann