The University Library helps University of Amsterdam (UvA) authors wishing to invoke this right and implements it on their behalf.
So how does it work?
By filling in the online licence agreement Taverne, you will give the University Library permission, pursuant to Section 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, to make the publisher's PDF of your short scientific works – ones which have already been published or have yet to be published at the UvA – available to the public at the end of a six-month embargo after online publication in the university repository UvA-DARE.
After permission has been granted, the University Library checks Pure to determine which of your publications can be made freely accessible within the scope of this section of the law. When executing – retrospectively from 2015 onwards - the Library depends on the publishers PDF available (added to the record by you when registering) in Pure.
If you have any questions for which you cannot find an answer in the notes and the frequently asked questions, please direct them to 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 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) and 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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Why do I have to agree with a licence agreement?
The right arising from Section 25fa of the Copyright Act is a personal right to make your work freely accessible. With the licence agreement, you grant the University Library permission to do this on your behalf. It is also laid down in the licence agreement what exactly the permission entails and under what conditions the University provides legal and financial support in the event that the publisher makes a claim.
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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, reuse or use for educational purposes – for example uploading them in Canvas – 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 not Plan S compliant, either.
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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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Can I also publish articles that have been made freely available on ResearchGate or Academica, for example?
No, you cannot. The section of the law allows you to share the work without consideration (without financial consideration). Sharing (uploading) via a commercial website is therefore not permitted, but linking to it is. If you want to make the freely accessible publications available via a personal website as well, you should preferably do so by including a link to the file. You should use the ‘permalink’ in UvA-DARE for this purpose.
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I wrote a publication with others. Do I need the permission of my co-author(s)?
No, that is not necessary. You can inform them if you like.
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Suppose that my publisher summons me, makes an objection or threatens to sue me. What should I do?
Do not take 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.