From: Linda M Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 11:28:16 +0000 Kevin, I read your reply with interest. Can you tell me where in the copyright law I would find the information that "a joint author, as co-owner of the copyright, is entitled to publish even without the permission of other joint authors." Is this in the law itself or other sources such as case law? Thanks. Linda Matula Schwartz, MDE, AHIP, CM Director, Knowledge Management (Library Services and Patient Education) Lehigh Valley Health Network Allentown, PA 18105 610-402-5290 -----Original Message----- 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 [log in to unmask]