Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
or institutional repositories, usually after an embargo period of around
six months.
The issues are complex and rarely black and white. For some years,
the academic community has been engaged in a number of initiatives
and projects which aim to bring clarity to the IP concerns outlined
above. The rest of this chapter describes the work which the academic
sector in Europe has undertaken to address the issues that currently
restrict its ability to innovate.
Academic writing and the copyright arrangement
The fact that this topic covers the ownership of digital content points
to the lack of clarity on this matter. For a long time this lack of clarity
has also been a problem within the world of higher education. The rise
and development of digital libraries started an extensive discussion
about ownership of scientific publications. It has been going on for a
long time, and its significance within the debate on accessibility and
dissemination of scientific information seems to be undiminished,
although it now receives less attention. Whether this is due to
exhaustion of interest or to the availability of clear answers remains to
be seen. It is noticeable, however, that the debate, instead of focusing
on the question of ownership, has shifted towards how to make
scientific information available.
That questions had arisen about ownership of scientific information
in the first place resulted from an important policy in institutions of
higher education: the creation of a substantial digital library that
permits searching of and access to full-text materials. Lack of clarity
regarding ownership of the papers to be included in the digital library
was an impediment to its development and expansion. Whether
ownership of a scholarly text vests in the creator, the institution
employing the creator, or the publisher of the text, has a great bearing
on the chances of that publication's being included in the library.
Towards the end of the 1990s and around the early 2000s, various
studies (ETUS, undated; McSherry, 2001; Monotti and Ricketson,
2003; Wiseman, 1999; C) were performed and policy recommendations
were written (Intellectual Property Task Force, 1999; Mossink, 1999;
Weedon, 2000; Weedon and Mossink, 2006) to give direction to the
debate about ownership of scientific publications. Since then, the topic
