[Open-access] [GOAL] Re: Copyright Law Destroys Markets

Tue Nov 20 15:06:58 UTC 2012

Yes, it was retracted because of corporate lobbying, but it can very 
well get back on the agenda if only public opinion requests this - 
that's why academia must stand behind this report. The fact that such a 
document was prepared and came to light is already a big sign of change 
and should be pushed forward despite retraction. A petition was started 
to request republishing: everyone can sign it here 
<http://www.change.org/petitions/paul-teller-and-the-republican-study-committee-rsc-republish-and-stand-behind-their-policy-brief-on-copyright-law>; 
or read more here 
<http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121118/23364521085/dont-let-retraction-distract-simple-fact-gop-copyright-policy-brief-was-brilliant.shtml>.

-Marcin

On 11/20/2012 01:35 PM, Bishop, Tom wrote:
>
> Thanks Marcin. As people will see if you follow the link, the report 
> was almost instantly retracted with a statement saying "Yesterday you 
> received a Policy Brief on copyright law that was published without 
> adequate review within the RSC and failed to meet that standard."!! 
> I've just read about it in an email from the 1709 Copyright Blog, 
> which I can forward to this list if people are interested.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom.
>
> *Tom Bishop |**Head of Library and Surgical Information Services*
>
> The Royal College /of/ Surgeons /of/ England |35-43 Lincoln's Inn 
> Fields |London WC2A 3PE
>
> t: 020 7869 6530 | e:**tbishop at rcseng.ac.uk 
> <mailto:tbishop at rcseng.ac.uk>|w:http://www.rcseng.ac.uk 
> <http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/>
>
> *From:*goal-bounces at eprints.org [mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org] *On 
> Behalf Of *Marcin Wojnarski
> *Sent:* 20 November 2012 11:38
> *To:* goal at eprints.org; open-access at lists.okfn.org
> *Subject:* [GOAL] Copyright Law Destroys Markets
>
> A few days ago, Republicans released a report about flaws of copyright 
> law, suggesting revolutionary reforms. Very important initiative for 
> all academia. Scholars should speak and strongly back the initiative, 
> to help liberate academic literature. You can read a write-up here 
> <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121116/16481921080/house-republicans-copyright-law-destroys-markets-its-time-real-reform.shtml>. 
> Some quotes:
>
>   * [about term of protection]/... Gradually this period began to
>     expand, but today's copyright law bears almost no resemblance to
>     the constitutional provision that enabled it and the conception of
>     this right by our Founding Fathers.
>     - Original Copyright Law [AD 1790]: *14 years*, plus 14 year
>     renewal if author is alive.
>     - Current Copyright Law: *Life of author plus 70 years*; and for
>     corporate authors *120 years after creation* or 95 years after
>     publication./
>   * /copyright continue to be extended perpetually, ensuring that
>     works *never* actually enter the public domain (...) that would
>     effectively nullify Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the
>     *Constitution* which provides protection only for "limited times."/
>   * /[copyright] *penalizes legitimate journalism* and oversight (...)
>     Current copyright law allows for producers of written materials,
>     such as memos or other documents, to claim copyright when they are
>     seeking to hide incriminating information./
>   * /Because there is minimal or nearly non-existent punishment for
>     bogus copyright claims today, false takedown requests are common
>     and have a chilling effect upon legitimate speech. (...) This
>     often leads to de facto *censorship*./
>   * /Current copyright law does not merely distort some markets --
>     rather it *destroys* entire markets./
>   * [from Infringement Nation] /things you do every single day are
>     infringing and leave *every single person* liable for *billions in
>     damages* each year/
>
> (emphasis mine)
> There's a separate section on academic literature. Quoting in full:
>
> *B. Hampering scientific inquiry:*
> Scientific papers from the early portion of the 20th century are still 
> under copyright. . .
> This is illogical, as the purpose of most scientific papers is to 
> further intellectual
> inquiry, and the goal of most authors of scientific papers is to 
> advance their field and
> to be cited in other publications. Many professors are assessed upon 
> the number of
> citations for their major works. For these reasons, keeping their work 
> in what are
> effectively locked vaults defeats the purpose of much of their work.
> Obviously these producers need to be compensated to justify the cost 
> of their
> research, but after around 14 years, most, if not nearly all, of the 
> earning capacity of
> their work has been exhausted, and at that point the overriding 
> interest is in ensuring
> that these works are available for others. While there are exceptions 
> in the law for the
> use of this material for good faith exceptions, there are numerous 
> examples where
> for-profit entities want to use published journal articles but are 
> unable to do so
> without negotiating a payment to the producer of the content.
> If however, these older papers were available online for free on 
> Google Scholar to
> anyone to access and use after a reasonable period of time then it 
> would greatly
> increase the availability and utilization of scientific analysis.
>
>
>
> -- 
> Marcin Wojnarski, Founder and CEO, TunedIT
> http://tunedit.org
> http://www.facebook.com/TunedIT
> http://twitter.com/wojnarski
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcinwojnarski
>   
> TunedIT - Online Laboratory for Intelligent Algorithms
>
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-- 
Marcin Wojnarski, Founder and CEO, TunedIT
http://tunedit.org
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TunedIT - Online Laboratory for Intelligent Algorithms

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