Re: Copyright: Form, Content, and Prepublication Incarnations

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_cogprints.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 11:12:51 +0000

On Mon, 19 Nov 2001, Chris Armstrong wrote:

> If the subversive proposal takes hold,
> journal prices will be forced up - in the short term, at
> least. In the long term, IF it worries them, the
> publishers can lobby for litigation outside of the
> copyright laws, I suppose. Perhaps something to do with
> fair trading? And I bet the universities cave in first!

Speaking practically, and historically, this worry belongs on the
"Zeno's Paralysis" list:

    8. Prima-Facie FaQs for Overcoming Zeno's Paralysis
    "I worry about self-archiving because...":
     http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/resolution.htm#8

The conceptual possibility you mention is not at all something that should be
holding back either authors or their universities from vigorously
self-archiving immediately.

    10. Copyright
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Tp/resolution.htm#10.Copyright

Moreover, all the evidence is that self-archiving will have just the
opposite effect, namely, to update journal copyright policy so as to
bring it in line with what is incontestably in the best interests of
researchers, their institutions, and research itself (hence of all
of society).

This has been precisely the outcome of the most successful
self-archiving initiative so far, that of the physicists. See the
new copyright policy of the publisher of the most prestigious
journals in physics, the American Physical Society:

    Revised APS copyright form
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0746.html

Here are further topic threads (some of them quite extensive) in this
Forum's Archive:

    Copyright Tribunal
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0762.html

    Authors "Victorious" in UnCover Copyright Suit
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0768.html

    Science 4 September on Copyright
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0085.html

    Chron. High. Ed. 18 September on Cal Tech & Copyright
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0103.html

    Academic Press Journal Article Copyright Policy
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0269.html

    Elsevier Science Policy on Public Web Archiving Needs Re-Thinking
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0136.html

    Elsevier's ChemWeb Preprint Archive
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0817.html

    Interview with Elsevier Science
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/1604.html

    Copyright FAQ for refereed journal authors
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0416.html

    The Copyright Non-Problem and Self-Archiving
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0449.html

    Copyright, Embargo, and the Ingelfinger Rule
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0496.html

    BioMed Central and new publishing models
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0522.html

    Legal ways around copyright for one's own giveaway texts
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0541.html

    Journal Publisher Copyright Assignment Policies
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0930.html

    PostGutenberg Copyrights and Wrongs for Give-Away Research
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/1309.html

    Inventory of Publishers' Copyright Policies?
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/1535.html

Stevan Harnad

NOTE: A complete archive of the ongoing discussion of providing free
access to the refereed journal literature online is available at the
American Scientist September Forum (98 & 99 & 00 & 01):

    http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html
                            or
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/index.html

You may join the list at the amsci site.

Discussion can be posted to:

    american-scientist-open-access-forum_at_amsci.org
Received on Mon Nov 19 2001 - 11:13:28 GMT

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