If I’m a co-author of a scholarly article, is it covered by the Open Access policy?
Do I need to get my co-author's permission?
Answer
Yes, the UMass Open Access Policy applies whether an article is written by an individual or jointly authored. Joint authors of an article each individually have the authority to grant non-exclusive licenses. If you are a co-author of an article, you should inform your co-authors about the nonexclusive license that you have granted UMass Amherst under the open access policy.
A joint work is defined by the U.S. Copyright Act as "a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of the whole." [17 U.S.C. 101]. If you have questions about whether someone listed as an author on your paper is a "joint author" in terms of copyright, you can consult with the Library's Copyright and Information Policy services at copyright@umass.edu.