Conceptualising the right to secondary publication

In recent years, there has been no shortage of legal initiatives enabling open access to publicly funded scholarly publications. The so-called Secondary Publication Right (SPR) has been introduced in a number of EU Member States in various forms and involving various conditions and implications. In its conclusions on high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy and equitable scholarly publishing of 4 May 2023, the Council of the European Union welcomes the introduction of the secondary publication rights in Member States and encourages the Commission to examine and propose measures at EU level aiming at removing barriers to access to and reuse of publicly funded research results, as well as publications and data for research purposes, while guaranteeing the author’s consent. The present chapter explores the different legal mechanisms that can contribute to this goal and embody the concept of an SPR, with their respective advantages and disadvantages in conceptual and legal-technical terms.