Page:Copyright in United Nations publications- General principles, practice and procedure.pdf/4

ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2 Page 4 11. In accordance with the policy of promoting the widest dissemination possible, the Secretariat should give all reasonable encouragement to any reputable publisher proposing to issue a translation of a United Nations publication that is not copyrighted in a language in which the United Nations is not itself publishing it. The prospective publisher shall be asked (a) to make due acknowledgement to the United Nations as the publisher of the authentic text and (b) to state clearly on the title page that it takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the translation. The publisher should also be advised that the use of the United Nations emblem is restricted to United Nations publications, unless, in exceptional circumstances, permission is granted by the Publications Board in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs. In cases where separate editions are contemplated in languages in which the United Nations has issued or is preparing to issue the publication in question, the authorities concerned should be invited to consider the alternative of bulk purchase from the United Nations at special rates.

12. The authors of articles contributed to United Nations publications or of papers submitted to seminars or other meetings, which are to be published by the United Nations, sometimes seek permission to publish their articles or papers under their own name in a book or a professional journal. Where such publication is to take place after the United Nations publications have appeared, the general practice applies (see paras. 7-10). In some cases, however, permission is sought to reproduce articles or papers prepared for the United Nations prior to their publication by the United Nations itself. In replying to such requests members of the Secretariat should be guided by the following principles:

(a) The United Nations cannot withhold permission to publish material which has been prepared for it as a technical contribution and for which it has made no payment, unless the contribution was accepted on the understanding that it was to become the property of the United Nations. The author should, however, be informed of the intention of the United Nations to publish and should be asked to state that the material was prepared for the United Nations and is to be published by it in a publication or volume of proceedings.

(b) Articles or papers prepared for the United Nations under a special service agreement are covered by the terms of the agreement, which typically includes a clause stipulating that all rights of whatsoever nature in the material produced are vested exclusively in the United Nations. Where this is the case, the United Nations is entitled to withhold permission to publish, and the author's request should be referred to the Secretary of the Publications Board;

(c) Articles or papers prepared by staff members for inclusion in a United Nations publication, or as a contribution to a conference or seminar, are covered by the terms of staff rules 112.7 and 212.6, which provide: "All rights, including title, copyright and patent rights, in any work performed by a staff member [project personnel] as part of his or her [their] official duties shall be vested in the United Nations." Rh