LISNews: Librarian News

The movement to boycott journal publishers requiring restrictive copyright agreements of their authors is in full swing, as
evidenced by this open letter signed by
an impressive array of scientists and scholars.

We support the establishment of an online public library that would provide the full contents of the published record of research and scholarly discourse in medicine and the life sciences in a freely accessible, fully searchable, interlinked form. . . To encourage the publishers of our journals to support this endeavor, we pledge that, beginning in September, 2001, we will publish in, edit or review for, and personally subscribe to, only those scholarly and scientific journals that have agreed to grant unrestricted free distribution rights to any and all original research reports that they have published . . .

[via New Breed Librarian and The Free Online Scholarship Newsletter]

jen writes \"Full Story

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced that it has joined several other literary groups supporting Captain America creator Joseph H. Simon\'s effort to reclaim his copyright from Marvel Comics. The SFWA joined the Authors Guild Inc., the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Writers Union, Novelists Inc., the Society of Children\'s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Text and Academic Authors Association in an amicus curiae brief supporting Simon\'s claim. \"

ZDNet has an interesting Story on the corruption of copyright laws.

If you\'ve read most of the other stories I posted on this subject there isn\'t much new here, but he makes some good points. Joshua S. Bauchner says the corruption of copyright harms the public interest, and contravene the principles of a democratic society.

Since copyright holders, often not the creative authors, ensured the massive expansion of their monopoly, many of the new laws we are seeing around the world work against the people who were supposed to be protected in the first place.

The bad news about the copyright grab just keeps on coming. It really looks like we are losing something important, and we have to act. Here is a story in the San Diego Union Tribune about how actual laws are being copyrighted - and the copyright found to be valid in court cases, including a Federal appeals court. In other words, governments are not free to distribute the whole of the law - in some cases you have to buy it from a private party in order to read it, or your library has to buy it (as long as that is still allowed - publishers are working on that now). This is so bad you\'d think it is a hoax, but it seems to be real. Slashdot has a discussion on this article from a few days ago.