The European Rights Retention Community of Practice: Building institutional capacity for Rights Retention across Europe.

Abstract

Launched in December 2024 by SPARC Europe under the Knowledge Rights 21-funded Retain Project, the European Rights Retention Community of Practice (CoP) addresses critical gaps in implementing Rights Retention (RR) strategies and policies across European institutions. Despite RR being an important legal tool to enable open sharing of research, widespread adoption faces systemic barriers: copyright regulation, publisher resistance, common misunderstandings among researchers, or a lack of institutional policies.

The European Rights Retention Community of Practice (CoP) fosters collaboration, shares best practices, and strengthens collective advocacy efforts across borders. By creating a trusted space for knowledge exchange, the CoP is helping institutions transition from isolated advocacy to a coordinated European approach.

This poster highlights the CoP’s collaborative efforts to identify and address legal, institutional, and cultural barriers to Rights Retention, supporting a more coordinated and empowered transition to Open Science across Europe, including:

• Legal and policy challenges: Differences in national copyright laws, institutional Intellectual Property and Open Access/Open Science policies, and employment contracts complicate RR implementation. The CoP facilitates knowledge exchange on legal frameworks, risk assessments, and policy harmonisation.
• Publisher resistance: Some publishers actively oppose RR, requiring institutions to negotiate individually. The CoP enables members to share negotiation strategies and experiences. This knowledge exchange strengthens individual institutional positions when engaging with publishers, creating shared tools to overcome common barriers.

• Researcher engagement: Many researchers fear journal rejection or see little value in retaining rights. The CoP supports shared advocacy strategies to better communicate the benefits of RR and simplify compliance.

Bringing together librarians, legal experts, research support professionals, Open Access advocates, institutional policymakers, non-profit institutional publishers, and researchers, the CoP pools expertise to navigate complex legal landscapes, engage constructively with publishers, and accelerate the move toward equitable Open Access. This poster invites participants to engage with the CoP’s work, explore its resources, and join a growing network committed to strengthening researchers’ rights across Europe.