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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_19.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_19.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..38f0314 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_19.html @@ -0,0 +1,140 @@ +<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. + +Free Software Foundation + +51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor + +Boston, MA 02110-1335 +Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. +Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted +worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is +preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations +of this book from the original English into another language provided +the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and +the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all +copies. + +ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9 +Cover design by Rob Myers. + +Cover photograph by Peter Hinely. + --> + + + <a name="Science-Must-Push-Copyright-Aside"> + </a> + <h1 class="chapter"> + 19. Science Must Push Copyright Aside + </h1> + <a name="index-libraries_002c-access-fees-and"> + </a> + <p> + It should be a truism that the scientific literature exists to +disseminate scientific knowledge, and that scientific journals exist +to facilitate the process. It therefore follows that rules for use of +the scientific literature should be designed to help achieve that +goal. + </p> + <p> + The rules we have now, known as copyright, were established in the +age of the printing press, an inherently centralized method of +mass-production copying. In a print environment, copyright on journal +articles restricted only journal publishers—requiring them to +obtain permission to publish an article—and would-be +plagiarists. It helped journals to operate and disseminate knowledge, +without interfering with the useful work of scientists or students, +either as writers or readers of articles. These rules fit that system +well. + </p> + <p> + The modern technology for scientific publishing, however, is the +World Wide Web. What rules would best ensure the maximum +dissemination of scientific articles, and knowledge, on the web? +Articles should be distributed in nonproprietary formats, with open +access for all. And everyone should have the right to +“mirror” articles—that is, to republish them verbatim +with proper attribution. + </p> + <p> + These rules should apply to past as well as future articles, when +they are distributed in electronic form. But there is no crucial need +to change the present copyright system as it applies to paper +publication of journals because the problem is not in that domain. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, it seems that not everyone agrees with the truisms +that began this article. Many journal publishers appear to believe +that the purpose of scientific literature is to enable them to publish +journals so as to collect subscriptions from scientists and +students. Such thinking is known as “confusion of the means with +the ends.” + </p> + <p> + Their approach has been to restrict access even to read the +scientific literature to those who can and will pay for it. They use +copyright law, which is still in force despite its inappropriateness +for computer networks, as an excuse to stop scientists from choosing +new rules. + </p> + <p> + For the sake of scientific cooperation and humanity’s future, we +must reject that approach at its root—not merely the +obstructive systems that have been instituted, but the mistaken +priorities that inspired them. + </p> + <p> + Journal publishers sometimes claim that online access requires +expensive high-powered server machines, and that they must charge +access fees to pay for these servers. This “problem” is a +consequence of its own “solution.” Give everyone the +freedom to mirror, and libraries around the world will set up mirror +sites to meet the demand. This decentralized solution will reduce +network bandwidth needs and provide faster access, all the while +protecting the scholarly record against accidental loss. + </p> + <p> + Publishers also argue that paying the editors requires charging for +access. Let us accept the assumption that editors must be paid; this +tail need not wag the dog. The cost of editing for a typical paper is +between 1 percent and 3 percent of the cost of funding the research to produce +it. Such a small percentage of the cost can hardly justify obstructing +the use of the results. + </p> + <a name="index-universities-3"> + </a> + <p> + Instead, the cost of editing could be recovered, for example, +through page charges to the authors, who can pass these on to the +research sponsors. The sponsors should not mind, given that they +currently pay for publication in a more cumbersome way, through +overhead fees for the university library’s subscription to the +journal. By changing the economic model to charge editing costs to the +research sponsors, we can eliminate the apparent need to restrict +access. The occasional author who is not affiliated with an +institution or company, and who has no research sponsor, could be +exempted from page charges, with costs levied on institution-based +authors. + </p> + <p> + Another justification for access fees to online publications is to +fund conversion of the print archives of a journal into online +form. That work needs to be done, but we should seek alternative ways +of funding it that do not involve obstructing access to the +result. The work itself will not be any more difficult, or cost any +more. It is self-defeating to digitize the archives and waste the +results by restricting access. + </p> + <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-defend-progress-of-science-from-copyright"> + </a> + <p> + The + <a name="index-Constitution_002c-copyright-and-US-2"> + </a> + US Constitution says that copyright exists “to promote +the Progress of Science.” When copyright impedes the progress of +science, science must push copyright out of the way. + <a name="index-libraries_002c-access-fees-and-1"> + </a> + </p> + <hr size="2"/> + |