I found this useful and am passing it on.

Don Cunningham (cunningh who-is-at indiana.edu)
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 14:50:39 -0500

>Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 08:56:53 -0500
>From: ransdell who-is-at door.net (ransdell, joseph m.)
>Subject: Copyright FAQ for refereed journal authors
>To: PEIRCE-L Discussion Forum <peirce-l who-is-at TTU.EDU>
>Reply-To: peirce-l who-is-at ttacs6.ttu.edu
>MIME-version: 1.0
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>
>Forwarded from another list (AmSci September Forum): Good advice on
>copyright agreements with publishers. Any further thoughts or critical
>points in this connection would be welcome
>
>Joe Ransdell
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 11:42:12 +0200 (CEST)
>From: Stefano Ghirlanda <stefano who-is-at zool.su.se>
>To: Stevan Harnad <harnad who-is-at coglit.ecs.soton.ac.uk>
>Cc: cbergst who-is-at emory.edu, forsdyke@post.queensu.ca,
>mcneilljd who-is-at mail.utexas.edu,
> magnus who-is-at zool.su.se, mh.uniespo@innet.be, Richard Stallman
><rms who-is-at gnu.org>,
> nholland who-is-at ufl.edu, pmg@nbi.dk, ravisri@vsnl.cm,
> wolfgang.engelmann who-is-at uni-tuebingen.de, lieb@math.princeton.edu,
> Ann Okerson <ann.okerson who-is-at yale.edu>,
> Guedon Jean-Claude <guedon who-is-at LITTCO.UMontreal.CA>,
> Andrew Odlyzko EJ <amo who-is-at research.att.com>, ginsparg@xxx.lanl.org
>Subject: Re: Copyright FAQ for authors
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Copyright HOWTO - second draft
>
>If you would like to ask a journal to modify their copyright policy so
>that you and possibly others can post your articles on the web, you
>might
>find the following suggestions helpful.
>
>* TAKE THE INITIATIVE
>
>Some journals will accept a copyright agreement different from their
>standard one if asked to, but will not offer a liberal agreement from
>the
>beginning. We know of several journals that will leave non-commerical
>distribution of a paper unrestricted if the author asks for it.
>
>Thus, when you get the copyright-transfer form from a journal, just
>send back a different, already signed one with a science-friendly
>policy. You can model your requests after the American Physical
>Society's (APS) policy, which can be found at:
>
>ftp://aps.org/pub/jrnls/copy_trnsfr.asc
>
>A possible sample text is:
>
> I hereby transfer to [publisher or journal] all rights to sell or
> lease the text of [paper]. I retain the right only to distribute
> it for free for scholarly/scientific or educational purposes,
> in particular, the right to archive it publicly online on the Web.
>
>More precise wording (legally speaking) can be found in the APS policy
>above. It should be clear that only non-commerical distribution will be
>unrestricted, and that the publisher would retain all commerical rights.
>
>* IN CASE OF A "NO"
>
>If your agreement is declined by the journal, it may prove effective to
>express concern that a too restrictive copyright policy may hinder the
>free circulation of scientific ideas. Say also that people's
>willingness to submit to this or that journal may in the future be
>influenced by their copyright policies.
>
>Some journals are owned by scientific associations, but the copyright
>is often managed by a commercial publisher. Try to go through the
>association first, especially if you are or have been a member.
>
>* REJOICE
>
>You can consider your time well spent even when the publisher fails to
>accept your conditions. It is important that the journals know what an
>author considers an important precondition for submission.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Stefano Ghirlanda, Zoologiska Institutionen, Stockholms Universitet
> Office: D554, Arrheniusv. 14, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
>Phone: +46 8 164055, Fax: +46 8 167715, Email: stefano who-is-at zool.su.se
> Support Free Science, look at: http://rerumnatura.zool.su.se
>