You share, we take care!

Dutch Copyright Act offers an alternative route to open access 

The Dutch universities will give open access an extra boost by starting a pilot to make publications available after six months in collaboration with researchers. 

In order to achieve the Dutch ambition of 100% open access in 2020, we have made agreements with many publishers regarding open-access publishing. Currently, this is not yet possible for all types of publications or journals. That is why, starting February 2019, authors will be facilitated in making their academic works available to the general public online six months after publication through university repositories. 

The Dutch Copyright Act allows for this due to Section 25fa, also knowns as the Taverne amendment. This amendment has been translated into a number of concrete principles and will now be implemented as a pilot by the VSNU, the Association of Dutch Universities. Pursuant to the amendment, there are a few conditions that authors must meet in order to participate in the pilot. The academic research on which the work is based must have been funded wholly or partly with Dutch public funds, and the author or co-author must have an employment contract with a Dutch institution. Furthermore, the work must not exceed a certain length. During the pilot, which ends after 6 months, authors who wish to share their work online will receive additional support where necessary. 

For all information on this pilot please visit https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care