I imagine most people with more than a passing interest in open access/copyright law-type news have heard about H.R. 6845, the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act. Essentially what is taking place is that various publishers are severely concerned that the NIH policy will impact their bottom line, and is taking advantage of their value-added services like peer-review and editing. They are now pressuring the government to end the policy that requires all NIH-funded research to be made publicly available.
The backlash against this has been more-or-less expected, but is still good to see. The Library Journal posted an article discussing the 47 copyright experts (what makes one an expert is not explained) and professors of law who have written a letter to the House Judiciary Chairman, along with 33 Nobel Prize-winning scientists who have written to Congress with their support of the NIH policy.
As you may know, I don’t have a huge philosophical attachment to Open Access. However, the actions and lies from these publishers make it far easier to want to fight the power and encourage authors to avoid the traditional publishing entitites. If the publishers win this fight, and the NIH policy is struck down, it will be yet another clear example showing who controls Washington - big business and lobbyists.
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