When the ARRL publishes an item submitted by an author (book, article, photograph, etc), who owns the rights?
The ARRL owns all rights to the material as published. That is, we own exclusive rights to the item as it is published in an ARRL book, Web site, magazine or any other League media. This includes photographs, the manner in which the text and photos are arranged, etc. We acquire these exclusive rights because we have agreements with our International Amateur Radio Union sister societies that allow them to reprint anything we publish without copyright infringement. Also, we often use published materials for other purposes and therefore cannot have them encumbered by conflicting ownership. It is important to point out, however, that the League does not own rights to the ideas presented in published materials (an antenna design, for example). We also do not own the rights to a particular device or software described in a book or article. Bottom line: The copyright we own applies strictly to the way in which we publish an author’s work – nothing more.
