Copyright Council issued an opinion on the copyright of scientific articles – publishing industry should amend its practices

In its statement, the Copyright Council finds that the book ‘Suomen historian jännät naiset’ (Extraordinary Women of Finnish History) was not written in accordance with proper usage as required by the Copyright Act. The Finnish Union of University Professors and the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers feel that the publishing industry for works of nonfiction has reason to re-examine their practices.

The Copyright Council has issued a statement (2023:8) on 24 October 2023 regarding the quotation and reference practices used in the book Suomen historian jännät naiset (published by Atena Kustannus in 2022). The statement of the Copyright Council is a response to the shared request for a statement issued by the two unions. The request for a statement from the Council included, as an appendix, extensive material in table format comparing the book with texts previously published by various researchers.

In the request for a statement, the Council was asked to issue an opinion on whether the book infringed the copyright of researchers by quoting their text exactly without clearly indicating the connection to the sources used. In its statement, the Council said that it does not take a position on texts other than those to which those who issued the request for a statement are entitled nor on matters regarding research ethics. In the conclusion to its statement, the Copyright Council states that researchers are quoted in the book in question in a manner that is contrary to proper usage and have, thus, had their moral rights infringed:

‘However, since the text cited from the articles is cited as such or modified and is not at all set apart from this author’s own text in the context of the actual quotation, and the authors or source of the original texts are not referenced, the Copyright Council considers that the situation has not been carried out in accordance with proper usage as required by section 11(2) of the Copyright Act. As a result, the moral rights of the authors have been infringed in the manner specified in section 3 of the Copyright Act.’

Statements of the Copyright Council are recommendations that are not legally binding for the courts or the parties to the request for a statement. The statements are public documents that can be accessed (in Finnish) through the website of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The Finnish Union of University Professors and the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers feel that the publishing industry for works of nonfiction should re-examine their practices. They state that ‘making citations contrary to proper usage and infringing the moral rights of researchers cannot be the prevailing, acceptable practice within the publishing industry’.

The Copyright Act covers the general right to use quotes from all types of materials. In its statement, the Copyright Council confirmed that, when quoting scientific articles or works, it should be noted that the scope of quotations must be in accordance with proper usage and the quotation must always be accompanied by a reference to the original material in accordance with good publishing practice.

Further information:
Leevi Mentula
Head of Employment Relationship Affairs
Finnish Union of University Professors
firstname.lastname (a) professoriliitto.fi

Johanna Moisio
Executive Director
Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers
firstname.lastname (a) professoriliitto.fi