Re: Definition of Open Access

[sgt3@psu.edu]

I misspoke: as my colleague Ricky Huard on the AAUP Copyright 
Committee reminds me:

My guess is that he's making a distinction based on the 
definition of "publication" in the 1976 Copyright Act: "the 
distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by 
sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or 
lending. . . . A public performance or display of a work does not 
itself constitute publication." If "access" equals "display" (as 
I suspect he may be thinking), he has a point, albeit a rather 
casuistic one: He's not copying and distributing--just inviting 
300 million of his closest friends to see the display.

> > OA itself is a form of access-provision, not a form of 
> > publication. Gold OA is a form of publication.
> This is a distinction without a practical difference, Stevan, 
> and U.S. copyright law would not differentiate between the two; 
> both Green OA and Gold OA would be technically defined as 
> "publication" under the law.
Sanford G. Thatcher
Director, Penn State Press
University Park, PA 16802-1003