[Air-L] Fwd: [Asis-l] Fair Copyright in Research Works Act

[Ingbert Floyd]

I know there are a lot of people here who support open access to
scientific data and findings as a professional value/responsibility,
and others who are interested in studying the process by which these
issues get negotiated, so I thought I would pass this notice along. It
only really applies to US citizens, so I apologize for spamming
everyone else. And apologies for cross-postings.

As far as I can tell, the bill is still up for review, though I might
be wrong about this (I'm guessing the current financial crisis is
providing as much distraction as cover for this bill):

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h6845/show

Ingbert

---------- Forwarded message ----------
[...]

This is very important and rumblings have been heard that the
publishers are trying to overturn the NIH 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 at 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]



____
2008 Annual Meeting
People Transforming Information - Information Transforming People
October 24-29, 2008, Columbus, Ohio
________________________________________
Asis-l mailing list
Asis-l at asis.org
http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/asis-l




-- 
==========================================
Ingbert Floyd
PhD Student
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
http://ingbert.org/     ||     skype: spacesoon

Check out the unofficial GSLIS Wiki:
http://www.gslis.org/

"Dream in a pragmatic way."
-Aldous Huxley