Intellectual Property Report from AAAS

[Adrian Alexander <alexandera@lindahall.org>]

Although the report below is dated July 12, I don't recall seeing it
posted anywhere previously. It was sent to me by a colleague this morning.  
Apologies if this has already been posted here, as well as for any
cross-posting.

Adrian Alexander
GWLA (www.gwla.org)
BioOne, Inc. (www.bioone.org)
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Report on Electronic Publishing Urges More Control for Authors
American Association for the Advancement of Science
12 July 2002

A committee comprised of a distinguished group of scientists, attorneys,
legal scholars, and publishers, and convened by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), issued today a report on
intellectual property rights in the information age.

The report, Seizing the Moment: Scientists' Authorship Rights in the
Digital Age, reflects the ongoing and highly complex scholarly debate
regarding intellectual property law, while calling electronic publishing,
"a new and exciting prospect for science and its patrons." But it also
notes that the current legal structure may set up roadblocks against the
fulfillment of its promise.

Rather than calling for changes in copyright law, characterized as a
daunting prospect that would take many years, the report recommends a more
immediate step. It calls for authors to use their leverage as creators of
a work to negotiate licensing agreements with scientific publishers that
will maximize access to and dissemination of their work.

Specifically, the report suggests the following guidelines to scientists
in working out licensing agreements with scientific publishers:

* Authors should receive attribution whenever their work is reproduced,
redistributed or displayed publicly. If there are no pre-existing
restrictions, they should be allowed to disseminate and use their work at
no or nominal cost in ways that maximize access to it by others for
educational and research purposes.

* Agreements should provide for long-term affordable access to scientific
work, while giving publishers the right to receive reasonable return on
their investment for any efforts made to add value to the original work.

* Users covered by the licensing agreement should have no barriers to
reading, printing, displaying or downloading published work.

* Users not covered by the license should have access to materials on
terms compatible with copyright law, including fair use.

The report was produced with funding from the National Science Foundation
(NSF). A complete copy is available at
<http://www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/projects/epub/epub.htm>

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Adrian W. Alexander, Executive Director
Greater Western Library Alliance
http://www.gwla.org
Treasurer, BioOne, Inc.
http://www.bioone.org
  EMAIL: alexandera@lindahall.org
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a
literacy test." - George W. Bush (Feb. 21, 2001)
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