The aim of Open Access international movement is the removal of any economic, legal or technical barrier to the access to scientific information, this in order to guarantee scientific and technological progress for the benefit of the collectivity. Copyright Management in higher education is a strategic issue because it is involved in any process from creation to dissemination of scholarly works created at the university. Whatever the situation regarding ownership of copyright, university policies should balance the interests of stakeholders by reserving rights or benefits for research uses or teaching activities. A variety of approach can exist even within one country, depending by laws or by habits to faculties. Copyright laws - customized on musical and cinematographic environment - are often inadequate to deal with the complex issues surrounding the management of intellectual works created at universities. Nowadays, inside scholarship communication world, the copyright is perceived as very strong legal barrier, because copyright laws influence in a negative way the dissemination of intellectual research output, and most intellectual content (90%) are hindered inside editorial platforms. Furthermore authors, but also Universities, not always are awake about difference between authorship and ownership with disastrous consequences about rights ceased to third market actors which limit or slowdown the dissemination processes and negatively influences the impact on the community, with heavy cultural, social and economic relapses. For this reason authors must take the control of their right and learn to determine the conditions under which her or his work is made available on open access, choosing to deposit a copy of a work in a repository or publish in an open access journal. On the other side the universities, in particular in Italy, should put as priority the identification of stakeholders and the allocation of their own interests. This direction is a crucial step toward the development of policies or agreements that seek to assure to the University and their authors the ability to use and manage the works in fulfillment of their most important interests.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/22/2006 09:02:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
