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
EU Commission seeks views on protocols for TDM rights reservation expression
The Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI models adopted this summer includes Measure 1.3 “Identify and comply with rights reservations when crawling the World Wide Web”. The EU Commission has now started a consultation (deadline 9 January 2026) on protocols that exist for expressing right reservations, which STM will respond to. The questionnaire includes several questions on the TDMRep…
Survey on Secondary Publication Right and research exception
As previously reported, the EU Commission is seeking the stakeholders’ views on potential changes at EU level on Secondary Publication Right and research exception from copyright. Because of the disappointing survey design, STM is drafting a critique letter, co-signed by other publishing organisations in Europe and globally, in addition to its survey responses. Thank you to all members…
NIH posts comments on APC caps
NIH has released nearly 1,400 pages of comments received from more than 900 commenters on the policy proposal on “Maximizing Research Funds by Limiting Allowable Publishing Costs.” STM’s was among the approximately 10% of submissions that were very extensive, along with several other publishers/publishing organisations and some large institutions and funders. Other than Gates, many of the longest responses raised…
DOE asks for input on AI model development
Although not explicitly connected to the Genesis Mission, the Department of Energy has issued a request for information (RFI) on Partnerships for Transformational Artificial Intelligence Models. DOE plans (again, separate from the Genesis Mission) “to establish a public-private consortium to curate DOE scientific data across the National Laboratory complex for use in artificial intelligence (AI) models…