RE: New US Bill re. Copyright/Federal Funding

["Ian Russell" <ian.russell@cytherean.co.uk>]

Many publishers would agree that the results of publicly funded 
research should be available to the public free of charge but 
that these 'results' are the authors' original version of the 
manuscript before peer review, copy-editing, reference linking, 
typesetting etc.  The authors' original version also does not 
benefit from association with a journal brand.

If scholarship wants to benefit from the value added by 
publishers - whether those operating a predominantly gold OA 
business model, a predominantly subscription model or any other 
business model as yet not even though of, then it needs to be 
paid for.

Taking away the ability for publishers to recover their 
investment and, yes, in some cases make a profit will only serve 
to stifle innovation and investment in scholarly communication 
and IMHO is not in the best interests of academia or of the 
public at large.

Ian Russell
ALPSP

-----Original Message-----
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Linda Hopkins
Sent: 20 September 2008 03:20
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: RE: New US Bill re. Copyright/Federal Funding

Dear All:

I apologize for the emotionalism of my earlier comments.

Whose rights to protect when it comes to scientific research is
of course a complicated question.  When I worked as a
presidential advisor, the trend was definitely towards making
access and practical use of knowledge developed by federal funds
available to as many people as possible.  I believe in that
policy.

I recognize that publishing houses want to make money on their
publications and if Disney and Fox News want to do this, fine.
That's entertainment.

But the inherent value of scientific research is that a wide
variety of learned experts read and discuss it.  Since the
purpose of federal funds for research is to advance science,
technology, health care, and better standards of living, I
believe that granting a free irrevocable, world-wide license to
the government to display and copy articles is nothing more than
fulfilling the purposes of the grant/contract.

Linda Hopkins

Linda K. Hopkins, Attorney at Law
Intelliware Int'l Law Firm
Roseville, MN  55113
Email: lin.hopkins@hotmail.com