Crossref DOIs can have their ownership transferred from one Crossref member to another. This allows a new publisher to take over management of DOIs previously registered by another publisher, without the DOI strings themselves ever changing. This is important, because two of the most important facets of the DOI infrastructure is that DOIs do not change and that they remain unique: no object should ever have more than one DOI registered for it.
Perhaps you represent a scholarly society that is transferring its journal to a commercial publisher, or maybe you are operate a publisher who is interested in allowing an academic library to take over long-term management and stewardship of the DOIs/metadata you’ve registered for the books that you have published.
In any case, you will need to request a title transfer, allowing a different Crossref member to take over ownership/stewardship/management of your titles/DOIs.
We’ve made requesting a title transfer easier than ever with our new title transfer request form. Just complete the form and a Crossref staffmember will get in touch with you soon to ask any followup questions and complete the title transfer!
Got any questions about this? Please let us know in the comments.