The EC OA pilot asks that authors seek information on publishing models and copyright/licensing policies of the journal(s) to which they plan to submit (e.g. via ROMeO http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/). If publishers' policies do not allow compliance with the EC grant agreement, authors should negotiate an amendment to the publisher’s applicable copyright clauses or request an authorisation to self-archive within the specific embargo period. If negotiations are unsuccessful, researchers should consider submitting to another journal. If they cannot comply at all with special clause 39, beneficiaries should inform the Commission and provide the publisher’s letter of refusal.