JOINIntellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by patent, copyright, and trademark law. These laws enable people to earn recognition and/or financial benefit from what they invent or create.
The IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish by striking a balance between the interests of creators and the public.
Copyright law
Copyright law (sometimes referred to as authors’ rights in continental legal regimes) is a legal discipline that describes the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works.
Works covered by copyright range from books, journals, articles, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, maps, and technical drawings. The selection and arrangement of data may also be eligible for copyright protection.
Copyright law is the mechanism through which publishing houses are able to manage the content they own and license, and the bundle of rights can be divvied to achieve an appropriate balance of protection (e.g., so that publishers can recover their investment), openness (e.g., for public access), and responsible stewardship of the scientific record (e.g., by enabling right holders to pursue legal remedies for pirated and compromised content.
The Latest from STM
STM and Ithaka S+R launch research project on the interface between scholarly content and AI
“The Endpoint Question” will examine how scholarly content should meet AI agents at the point of access As AI-powered research assistants and agentic systems become an increasingly important route to scholarly content, STM and Ithaka S+R today announced a new independent study, and invite publishers’ technical teams, platform providers, AI developers and open repositories to…
STM publishes recommendations to improve medical and health science data sharing policies
STM has published new voluntary recommendations as a practical aid to help publishers and journals improve the clarity of data sharing information for medical and health science researchers — a field where participant privacy, regulatory requirements, and ethical obligations make generic policy language especially difficult to apply. STM Medical Data Sharing Guidance was developed by…
Gold OA continues to drive open access growth as the market matures
Gold OA articles jumped to its highest share ever in 2025, accounting for 44% of all global journal articles, reviews, and conference papers published, based on the latest release of the STM Open Access Dashboard. Nearly two million research articles were published gold OA in 2025, making it the principal driver of immediate, freely available…
Two calls open for STM’s Innovation & Integrity Days 2026
STM has opened two calls for contributions to Innovation & Integrity Days 2026, taking place on 8–9 December at BMA House, London. The two-day event explores the breakthroughs transforming scholarly communication, and looks closely at the latest trends, approaches and innovations in research integrity. It brings together publishers, innovators, researchers, sleuths, funders and allied organisations….