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
Global Reporting Standard for AI Disclosure in Research: first consultation is open
Transparency about the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research articles and other scholarly outputs is an important aspect of research integrity. At present, practices for how to disclose AI use vary widely across disciplines, regions, and publication cultures. To address this issue, STM has released a report “Recommendations for a Classification of AI…
Making scholarly images more accessible: STM’s Draft Taxonomy now open for feedback
The STM Alt Text Task & Finish Group (TFG) has released a draft image-type taxonomy for scholarly images — and we’re inviting your feedback. This draft is the result of a collaborative effort by STM members to support accessible publishing, with a focus on helping authors and publishers write better image descriptions (alt text). Not only does…
In the Media | Times Higher Education — “Unseen efforts to catch paper mill outputs bear fruit”
In an article on growing threats to research integrity, Times Higher Education covers STM’s report Safeguarding Scholarly Communication: Publisher Practices to Uphold Research Integrity. The article describes how publishers are increasingly focused on identifying integrity issues before publication—responding to paper mills, AI-enabled fabrication, and coordinated fraud networks—while scaling up research integrity teams and collaborating on…
New Report Documents Publisher Investment in Research Integrity Infrastructure
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (January 13, 2026) – A new report, released today, offers the first collective look at the range of approaches scholarly publishers are deploying to tackle threats to research integrity, threats that have evolved in nature and scaled dramatically in recent years. The STM-commissioned report was researched and compiled by research firm Research…