Publications freely accessible through section 25fa Dutch Copyright Act (Taverne)
As of 2024, the University of Amsterdam has decided that for all researchers, short scientific works - that are not already published open access - will be made freely accessible under this article of law.
Because of the decision, researchers no longer need to give explicit permission to the UvA Library for this (opt-in). The Library performs this automatically unless a researcher objects (opt-out).
So how does it work?
You are supposed to register your published research result in Pure. During registration you also add the publisher's version (PDF) of the publication for long-term archiving. If the publication has not been published open access, the Library will - if it is a short scientific work - make the publisher's version freely accessible after an embargo of six months. The Library performs this automatically for publications published and registered after January 1st 2024.
If you have any questions, please email openaccess@uva.nl.
Notes to Section 25fa of the Copyright Act (Taverne Amendment)
The full text of Section 25fa of the Copyright Act reads as follows:
‘The maker of a short scientific work, the research for which has been paid for in whole or in part by Dutch public funds, shall be entitled to make that work available to the public for no consideration following a reasonable period of time after the work was first published, provided that clear reference is made to the source of the first publication of the work.’
Joost Taverne was the submitter of the legislative proposal in the Dutch House of Representatives, which is why it is also known as the ‘Taverne Amendment’. Copyright (contract) law within the Dutch Copyright Act is mandatory law, it takes precedence over contract law; an agreement with a (foreign) publisher does not prevent the use of the provisions in this section of the law. The right cannot be waived and it is not transferable.
The right cannot be relinquished, nor is it transferable; a contract with a Dutch or foreign publisher does not preclude the ability to take advantage of the provisions of this section of the law.
Basic principles*
- Only scientific journal articles, conference contributions, annotations, book reviews and book chapters in edited collections are considered ‘short scientific works’.
- The result of research carried out in the course of employment at the UvA is considered to have been funded with Dutch public funds regardless of whether it was partly financed by another party such as the European Union.
- Six months after online publication is regarded as a reasonable period of time (regardless of the field).
- The final version of the work as published by the publisher, the publisher's PDF, i.e. the Version of Record (VoR), is shared.
* Restatement of the section of the law in concrete basic principles by National Plan Open Science (NPOS), assessed in 2019 during the national pilot project You share, we take care! in which the UvA also participated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I want to use the opt-out. How do I do that?
Complete the Opt-out form below to indicate an opt-out. Per form, one specific publication (short scientific work, see principles) can be withdrawn from the automatic process of making publications freely available by the Library. Please note, an opt-out can only be requested for publications that are already registered in Pure.
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I co-wrote a publication with other UvA authors and I want to use the opt-out. Now what?
The UvA has set itself the goal of achieving 100% open access and wants to make as many scientific publications as possible available to the public. If several UvA researchers are involved in a publication, then the (tacit) opt-in of the other researcher(s) involved takes precedence over the expressed opt-out. Only when all authors do not want to make the publication freely accessible, it will be withdrawn from the process of automatic free access by the Library.
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I want make a publication published before 2024 freely accessible using this section of the law, is that possible?
Yes, that is possible. Send an email to openaccess@uva.nl and let us know which publication(s) published before 2024 you want to make freely accessible under Section 25fa of the Copyright Act. Please note, this is only possible for short works such as journal articles, conference contributions, annotations, book reviews and book contributions.
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What is understood by ‘works published at the UvA’?
To be seen as ‘works published at the UvA’, publications must be registered in Pure and the publishers version (PDF) must carry the authors name affiliated to the UvA. Registered publications on which the author carries an affiliation to another university are due to legal technical reasons not made freely available based on article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act.
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Will my publications now become completely open access?
No, your publications will become 'freely accessible’, meaning that these can be read and used free of charge for personal (study) purposes. Distribution of the PDF or reuse of the text is not permitted; permission must still be obtained from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) for this purpose. This manner of providing open access is also not compliant with the open access requirements of e.g. NWO and most other research financers.
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Where are my publications made freely accessible?
The University Library makes the publisher’s PDF of your work freely accessible via the university repository (UvA-DARE) and your personal UvA page. UvA-DARE is indexed in Google Scholar.
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May I also post the freely accessible publications on ResearchGate or Academica?
No, you cannot. The section of the law allows you to share the work without (financial) consideration and distributing the PDF is only allowed with prior permission from the copyright holder(s). So sharing or uploading via a commercial website is not allowed. If you want to make the now freely accesible publication available via a personal website or via social media, you can do so by linking to the repository, UvA-DARE. Please use the 'Persistent Identifier' (example: https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/0f97365d-1006-4cdb-90c9-654859e69a3e).
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Is there any change that my publisher summons me, makes an objection or threatens to sue me? If so, what should I do?
Already since 2019, university libraries have been making publications freely accessible under Section 25fa of the Copyright Act. No problems with publishers have arisen yet, should this occur do not take any action yourself but contact openaccess@uva.nl immediately instead. We will take over the correspondence from you. If the publisher were to bring legal action against you, the UvA would settle the matter on your behalf.