Tell Congress you oppose the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act

[Ray English <Ray.English@oberlin.edu>]

To:  Supporters of the NIH Public Access Policy

Please take time to contact both your local US Representative and 
your two US Senators to express you opposition to HR 6845, the 
"Fair Copyright in Research Works Act."  This bill, if passed, 
would overturn the NIH Public Access Policy.  We especially need 
communications to members of the House and Senate Judiciary 
Committees.  Details are below.  Please also forward this message 
to regional listservs and do anything you can to encourage others 
to express opposition to this bill.

Ray English
Director of Libraries
Oberlin College
440-775-8287
ray.english@oberlin.edu

On September 11, 2008, the Chairman of the House Judiciary 
Committee (Rep. John Conyers, D-MI) introduced a bill that would 
effectively reverse the NIH Public Access Policy, as well as make 
it impossible for other federal agencies to put similar policies 
into place.  The legislation is HR6845: "Fair Copyright in 
Research Works Act" 
(http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/HR6845.pdf).

Please contact your Representative and Senators no later than 
September 24, 2008 to express your support for public access to 
taxpayer-funded research and ask that he or she OPPOSE HR6845. 
Especially important are members of the House Judiciary Committee 
(http://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.html) and Senate 
Judiciary Committee 
(http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/members.cfm). (Draft text and 
contact details are included below).

HR6845 is designed to do the following:

1.    Amend current copyright law (Title 17).

2.  Prohibit all U.S. federal agencies from conditioning funding 
agreements to require that works resulting from federal support 
be made publicly available if those works meet either of two 
conditions:

a.  They are funded in part by sources other than a U.S. agency, 
or

b.  The results from "meaningful added value" to the work from an 
entity that is not party to the agreement.

3.  Prohibit U.S. federal agencies being able to obtain a license 
to publicly distribute, perform, or display such work by -- for 
example -- putting it on the Internet.

4.  Makes broad policy by stifling public access to a wide range 
of federally funded works, and effectively overturns the 
crucially important current NIH Public Access Policy.

5.  Because it is so broadly framed, the proposed bill would 
require an overhaul of well-established procurement rules in 
effect for all federal agencies, and could disrupt day-to-day 
procurement practices across the federal government, including in 
critical areas such as research to support national defense and 
homeland security.

6.  In particular, the bill would repeal the longstanding 
"federal purpose" doctrine, under which all federal agencies that 
fund the creation of a copyrighted work must reserve a 
"royalty-free, nonexclusive right to reproduce, publish, or 
otherwise use the work" for any federal purpose. This will 
severely limit the ability of U.S. federal agencies to use works 
that they have funded to support and fulfill agency missions and 
to communicate with and educate the public.

7.  The bill is a blunt instrument that uses extremely broad 
language to override existing procurement law, and as such has 
serious implications for the entire U.S. federal government far 
beyond articles resulting from research funding.

8.  Because of the NIH Public Access Policy, millions of 
Americans now have access to vital health care information from 
the NIH's PubMed Central database. Under the current policy, 
nearly 4,000 new crucial biomedical articles were deposited in 
the last month alone. This proposed bill would prohibit the 
deposit of these articles, and as a result, researchers, 
physicians, health care professionals, families and individuals 
will find it much harder to get access to this critical 
health-related information.

Constituents across the country are asked to contact Congress and 
let them know you support public access to federally funded 
research and OPPOSE HR6845. Again, the proposed resolution would 
effectively reverse the NIH Public Access Policy, as well as make 
it impossible for other federal agencies to put similar policies 
into place.

Thank you for your support and continued persistence in 
supporting this policy. You know the difference constituent 
voices can make on Capitol Hill.

As always, please let me know what actions you're able to take. 
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Heather or 
myself anytime.

All best,

Jennifer

--------------------------

DRAFT TEXT:

Dear [Representative/Senator];

On behalf of [your organization], I strongly urge you to OPPOSE 
HR 6845, the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act, introduced to 
the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Courts, 
Intellectual Property and the Internet, on September 11, 2008. 
This bill would reverse the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
Public Access Policy, prohibit American taxpayers from accessing 
any and all research funded by taxpayer dollars, and stifle 
critical advancements in lifesaving research and scientific 
discovery.

Because of the NIH Public Access Policy, millions of Americans 
now have access to vital health care information from the NIH's 
PubMed Central database. Under the current policy, nearly 4,000 
new crucial biomedical articles were deposited in the last month 
alone. HR6845 would prohibit the deposit of these articles so 
that, as a result, researchers, physicians, health care 
professionals, families and individuals will be seriously impeded 
in their ability to access NIH-funded, critical health-related 
information.

[Why you support taxpayer access and the NIH policy]. The NIH 
policy must be allowed to continue to ensure public access to the 
results of research funded by the agency with taxpayer dollars. 
Please OPPOSE HR6845.

Sincerely,

[end]