New Whitepaper: A Thorny Question In Copyright
We’re very happy to announce the release of the third white paper in our Legal Pathways to Open Access series! […]
Big Ten Open Books: An Interview with Kate McCready (BTAA) and Charles Watkinson (UM)
Authors Alliance has had a longstanding interest in helping authors see their older books reinvigorated with new life by making them available online for free on an open access basis. One of the most exciting initiatives working on OA for backlist books is the Big Ten Open Books program. This post is based on a set of questions I posed to Kate McCready (Program Director for Open Publishing, Center for Library Programs at the Big Ten Academic Alliance) and Charles Watkinson (Director of University of Michigan Press and Associate University Librarian for Publishing at the University of Michigan) about what the program is and how it works.
The Morisky Medical Adherence Scale: a case study in using flimsy copyright claims to inhibit research
For anyone who is a regular reader of Retraction Watch, few things are more frustrating than seeing research retracted over
Contractual Override: How Private Contracts Undermine the Goals of the Copyright Act for Libraries and Researchers, and What We Can Do About It
We’ve written before about the use of contracts limiting author’s access to fair use, including how publisher contracts restrict innovation
When Your Publisher Isn’t the Dream Partner You Hoped For — What Counts as Material Breach of a Publishing Agreement?
This is a guest post by Hana Khan-Tareen, who is a Legal Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. We appreciate her insight on how authors can best protect their rights.
AI, Open Science, and the Future of Research Integrity: An Interview with Alison Mudditt of PLOS
Below is an interview with Alison Mudditt, CEO of PLOS (Public Library of Science) discussing the impact of AI on publishing
NO FAKES 2025: Another Bill Sacrificing Authors’ Free Expression for Industry Control
NO FAKES 2025 does not care about actual deception, impersonation, and harm to the average person; instead, it focuses on enabling political censorship and monetization of celebrity likeness.
The NIH Public Access Policy: Implementation and Feedback
The NIH Public Access Policy is in effect as of July 1, 2025. In response, Authors Alliance and SPARC have created a form to collect information about challenges or questions faced by authors, librarians and their institutions in complying with the roll out of new public access policies by federal grant making agencies in compliance with the OSTP directive to make federally funded research freely available to the public immediately upon publication.
Bonds, Beats, and Lawsuits: How Ed Sheeran Won
Structured Asset doesn’t make music nor aim to enrich our cultural life; instead, it uses copyright enforcement as a weapon against artists like Ed Sheeran, and turns a system meant to protect creativity into a mere vehicle for chasing profit.
Authors Alliance Submits Comment to FTC, Highlighting Copyright Misuse on Technology Platforms
Our comment urges the agency to examine how copyright enforcement mechanisms on major technology platforms are harming independent creators and undermining the constitutional principles behind copyright laws.