Copyright gives the creator of intellectual property a set of specific rights associated with their works, to decide whether, and under what conditions, the work may be used by others. SSRN is committed to respecting the authors' rights to their papers as well as that of the publisher. In order for SSRN to disseminate research articles, we must verify that we have the necessary rights and that doing so does not infringe on the copyrights of others.

View SSRN's Copyright Reference Guide designed to help authors understand their rights and provide copyright compliance guidelines.

What version of my article can I post to SSRN?

Each publisher has their own rights and self-archiving policies regarding what version of your article you can make available for download on SSRN. To be sure you have the right to upload such content, you should review your publishing agreement, the publisher’s copyright policies, and/or any other applicable information prior to posting any version of an Academic Paper. For a complete explanation, please read SSRN’s Terms of Use.

How do I obtain permission in order to post my article to SSRN?

Written permission must be obtained from the rightsholder to re-use any copyrighted material. Typically, the rightsholder of published material is the publisher unless it is explicitly indicated otherwise. By visiting the publisher’s website, you can find the contact information of their permissions department. Alternatively, you may also request permission using the Copyright Clearance Center's Rightslink service provided on the webpage of the desired content. Furthermore, if you require additional support please contact us using the Email option at the bottom of this page. It should not be assumed that a non-response authorizes you to use the material.

Why has my submission been set back to Not Submitted due to copyright?

Your recent submission was returned to not submitted status because the PDF attached indicates that the material may require permission for reuse. In most cases, the publisher typically has the exclusive right to grant the permission whether or not copyright is owned by the publisher.

Does SSRN now own copyright to my paper?

You do not transfer copyright for any papers (or other documents) you post on SSRN. When you upload a paper, you give SSRN the non-exclusive right to post and distribute your paper. You retain the right to remove your paper from SSRN at any time. When you provide material to SSRN and accept our Terms of Use, you confirm to us that your submission does not violate other parties’ copyright or other proprietary rights.

What should I do if I suspect a copyright violation in a paper posted on SSRN?

To raise complaints regarding alleged copyright or other intellectual property infringement, please follow the instructions set forth on the Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy page.

In addition, if we determine, in our sole discretion and judgment, that a user has failed to comply with the SSRN’s Terms of Use, we reserve the right at any time to take all or any of the following actions (and any other action we reasonably deem appropriate):

• Temporary or permanent withdrawal of the right to use SSRN and/or closure of the relevant account.
• Temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by a user to SSRN.
• Issue of a warning.
• Use any technological, operational or other means available to us to enforce the provisions of the Terms of Use.