European Research Libraries Say ‘Neighboring Rights’ Oppose Open Science
Declaring that ‘the current copyright framework is unfit for the digital age,’ the chief of Europe’s research libraries speaks out against “neighboring rights’—related rights—for publishers.
Increasing ‘the Burden of the Transactions of Licenses’
In May, European Member States articulated their commitment to transitioning toward Open Science—including aiming to make immediate open access to scientific publications the default—by 2020.”
Following the European Commission’s open consultation ending June 15—our announcement of this is here—LIBER has expressed “surprise” at the EC’s consultation, “given that neighbouring rights for publishers were not mentioned in the September Communication on copyright reform under the Digital Single Market in December 2015, and was therefore pleased to be invited to a high-level working lunch with MEP Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg on 22 June 2016, where the issue was discussed.”
In the form of an address delivered on the 22nd, we get LIBER’s position that “such a measure would increase the burden of the transactions of licences in a sector that already spends a huge amount on content.”
“LIBER is the association of European research libraries and represents more than 400 university, national and research institute libraries across 40 countries. Our mission is to enable research from our institutions to be world class. World class research is by its nature collaborative, international, interdisciplinary, and increasingly data intensive. We believe that these four factors can be intensified, and the quality and impact of European research therefore increased, through the practice of Open Science.
“Open Science, as defined by physicist and science writer Michael Nielsen, is based on ‘the idea that scientific knowledge of all kinds should be openly shared as early as is practical in the discovery process’…
“The European Open Science Cloud is being developed with the intention of increasing the impact of the €77 billion investment in H2020 [the European Union’s Horizon 2020 initiative] by making it easier for European researchers and innovators to access and reuse data.
“In May, European Member States stated their commitment to transitioning toward Open Science, including aiming to make immediate open access to scientific publications the default by 2020.
“The proposed expansion of neighboring rights completely flies in the face of the transition towards Open Science. At the moment the aim of full open access by 2020 is ambitious but achievable.
“Neighboring rights for publishers could completely undermine this aim.
“Today researchers are able to make their articles open access by retaining copyright of those articles and by then making their articles available under an open licence such as cc-by (which allows reuse and TDM etc.)…
“Do we now want to create a situation where publishers can retrospectively claim remuneration for those articles, which are the result of European publically funded research?
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Susan Reilly is the Executive Director of LIBER, the acronym for the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche, the Association of European Research Libraries.
