December 2017
Copyright is a form of legal protection for original works of authorship. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "What Works Are Protected", see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. Ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others.
Copyright infringement occurs when an author's work is reused or republished without the permission of the copyright owner, whether or not author attribution accompanied the reuse.
Plagiarism occurs when an author's work has been reused or republished in such a manner as to make it appear as someone else's work, e.g., without quotation marks and citation of the original work.
Like many other scientific publishers, the American Physical Society (APS) requires authors or their employers to provide transfer of copyright prior to publication. This permits APS to publish the article and to defend against improper use (or even theft) of the article. It also permits APS to publish the article online and to use the article in other forms or media, such as PROLA. By the APS transfer agreement, authors and their employers retain substantial rights in the work, as specified in the agreement https://journals.aps.org/authors/transfer-of-copyright-agreement and discussed in your copyright permission letter.
No. Copyright is separate from any patent rights, and the APS transfer agreement specifically states that patent rights are not affected. However, you should be aware that submitting a manuscript to a journal without first taking steps to protect your patent rights (e.g., filing for a patent) could endanger those rights. Consult your patent attorney.
Yes, the author or the author's employer may use all or part of the APS published article, including the APS-prepared version (e.g., the PDF from the online journal) without revision or modification, on the author's or employer's website as long as a fee is not charged. If a fee is charged, then APS permission must be sought. In all cases, the appropriate bibliographic citation and notice of the APS copyright must be included.
When a fee is imposed, the author must either obtain permission from APS or withdraw the article from the e-print server or Institutional Repository.
The author has the right to post and update the article on a free-access e-print server using files prepared and formatted by the author. Any such posting made or updated after acceptance of the article for publication by APS should include a link to the online APS journal article abstract. In all cases, the appropriate bibliographic citation and notice of the APS copyright must be included.
Sites like wikipedia and quantiki are strict about permissions and require that authors hold copyright to articles that they post there. In order to allow authors to comply with this requirement, APS permits authors to hold copyright to a “derived work” based on an article published in an APS journal as long as the work contains at least 10% new material not covered by APS's copyright and does not contain more than 50% of the text (including equations) of the original article. The APS will extend the author of a “derived work” the right to all papers published in APS journals.
Yes, the author or his/her employer may use all or part of the APS-prepared version for educational purposes without requesting permission from the APS as long as the appropriate bibliographic citation is included.
Yes, as the author you have the right to use figures, tables, graphs, etc. in subsequent publications using files prepared and formatted by you or the APS-prepared versions. The appropriate bibliographic citation must be included.
Yes, the author has the right to use the article or a portion of the article in a thesis or dissertation without requesting permission from APS, provided the bibliographic citation and the APS copyright credit line are given on the appropriate pages.
Yes, as the author you may grant permission to third parties to republish print versions of the article provided the APS-published version (e.g., the PDF from the online journal, or a copy of the article from the print journal) is not used for this purpose. The article may not be published in another journal, and the third party may not charge a fee. The appropriate bibliographic citation and notice of the APS copyright must be included.
No, an author may not grant permission in this case. To request permission to republish APS-copyrighted material, please refer to the “Reuse & Permissions” link that can be found on each APS article page.
The author is permitted to provide, for research purposes and as long as a fee is not charged, a PDF copy of his/her article using either the APS-prepared version or the author prepared version.
Yes, APS will grant permission to republish articles or portions of articles (e.g., tables, graphs, excerpts) published by APS. Depending on the reuse and medium APS has the right to grant permission subject to APS terms and conditions and a fee may be assessed.
Yes, you may use photocopied articles published by APS for lecture and classroom purposes without asking permission from APS as long as you remain an Authorized User of the APS online research per your institution’s site license. Also, there is no limitation on the use of APS articles using links to the material accessible through institutional subscriptions.
APS uses Aptara's SciPris™ platform to manage rights and permission requests. APS will continue to support the STM guidelines for all copyright needs. To request permission to republish APS-copyrighted material, please refer to the “Reuse & Permissions” link that can be found on each APS article page.
Once directed to the SciPris™ platform, the following information is required:
Upon submission, a letter of permission will be generated, specifying all guidelines and regulations to follow.
Blanket permissions are not granted. Please note all requests are subject to APS terms and conditions and a fee may be assessed.
If your questions have not been addressed and you need further assistance, please email customercare@aps.org.
For further information about copyright in general, please refer to the Library of Congress FAQ at https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at https://journals.aps.org/.
FAQ Version: December 12, 2017