How to remove the copyright box on a paper that uses the ACM sig-alternate.cls class file?

Question

The ACM provides a LaTeX template called sig-alternate.cls (webpage, class file). The current version is 2.4 released in April, 2009.

I would like to submit a paper for review using this class file. Unfortunately, the class file reserves some space at the bottom of the first page in the first column for a copyright notice. This copyright notice is required for the camera ready version of the paper, but not for the initial paper submission. How can I remove this copyright notice and reclaim this space?

Answer 1

Use the etoolbox package and its \patchcmd macro to selectively change sig-alternate' s definition of \maketitle, i.e. remove the \@copyrightspace macro (which is responsible for the copyright space).

\documentclass{sig-alternate}

\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}

\usepackage{etoolbox}
\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\maketitle}{\@copyrightspace}{}{}{}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\author{lockstep}
\title{How to remove the copyright space}
\maketitle

\blinddocument

\end{document}

(The blindtext package is only used to add some dummy text to the example.)

Answer 2

The accepted answer somehow doesn't work for me, but I found another solution here.

Simply add the following lines before \begin{document}:

\makeatletter
\def\@copyrightspace{\relax}
\makeatother

Answer 3

In the newest format (e.g. ACM MM 2020), you can set nonacm and authorversion in the documentclass:

\documentclass[sigconf,authorversion,nonacm]{acmart}

See also the official guide: https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/publications/consolidated-tex-template/acmart.pdf. (April 2020).

Answer 4

I fixed the problem by writing \setcopyright{none} before \begin{document} at the top. FYI I was using overleaf.

Answer 5

According to the documentation in the template source code:

• If you use the [preprint] option, the copyright text is removed but the space is preserved.

  % ACM SIG template
  \documentclass[preprint]{sig-alternate}
  

• If you use the [preprint] option of the template, you can use \toappear and \toappearbox to replace the copyright text. You must define the text to appear before issuing \maketitle. For instance

  % ACM SIG template
  \documentclass[preprint]{sig-alternate}
  % text to appear
  \toappear{To appear in the most incredible conference}
     % other commands
  \begin{document}
  \maketitle
     % other commands
  \end{document}
  

• If you want to remove completely the copyright space, you can redefine a @copyrightspace variable used to create the box at the bottom. You must redefine it before the \maketitle

  %% remove the box 
  \makeatletter
  \def\@copyrightspace{\relax}
  \makeatother
  

• If you want a smaller box, you can redefine the @copyrightspace variable too. Originally, the height of the box is 1". You can define a different size. For instance, the following code produce a smaller box. Note the \setlength with 0.2pc instead of 1pc

  \makeatletter
  \def\@copyrightspace{
      \@float{copyrightbox}[b]
      \begin{center}
          \setlength{\unitlength}{0.2pc}
              \begin{picture}(100,6) %Space for copyright notice
                  \put(0,-0.95){\crnotice{\@toappear}}
              \end{picture}
          \end{center}
      \end@float}
  \makeatother
  

Answer 6

I prefer the answer here: How to remove conference information from the ACM 2017 SIGCONF template?.

\settopmatter{printacmref=false} % Removes citation information below abstract
\renewcommand\footnotetextcopyrightpermission[1]{} % removes footnote with conference information in first column
\pagestyle{plain} % removes running headers

Use the preprint format will also remove the two-column layout, which I want to keep.

Answer 7

The following will replace the copyright text with blank or whatever you prefer. However, this will not reclaim the space, but you might need that for the camera ready version anyway.

Add the following before the \begin{document}

• For a text or blank with a rectangle around: \toappearbox{My-text-or-blank}
• For a text or blank with no rectangle: \toappear{My-text-or-blank}

Answer 8

For those who are looking to change the footer ACM text just put the following code before the document beginning and good luck.

\makeatletter
\def\runningfoot{\def\@runningfoot{}}
\def\firstfoot{\def\@firstfoot{}}
\makeatother 

Answer 9

Change ACM default Format:

You can use the following commands to remove copyright, reference format and footer/header of ACM default format:

\settopmatter{printacmref=false}
\setcopyright{none}
\renewcommand\footnotetextcopyrightpermission[1]{}
\pagestyle{plain}

\setcopyright{none}
\makeatletter
\renewcommand\@formatdoi[1]{\ignorespaces}
\makeatother

Answer 10

In my case I found a file in Overleaf template named Settings.tex and I removed the part concerning copyright.