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 | NIH Mandatory Policy Backed in Congress, but Copyright Concerns Remain
After two ineffective years of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy that requested researchers to deposit copies of their final research papers in PubMed Central, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have backed provisions in their respective 2008 Labor, Health and Education Appropriations Bills that will require deposit of NIH-funded researchers' final papers. Advocacy groups this week hailed the policy an important step forward for public access to research. Language added in the House bill, however, raises serious questions about implementation. While it "requires" deposit of an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication, additional language states that "NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law."
While seemingly innocuous, that language almost certainly will form the basis for a challenge to the policy's implementation. In a letter to lawmakers, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) argued that "a mandate may not be consistent with copyright law," a position emphasized by Brian Crawford, chair of the AAP's Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division Executive Committee. "The copyright proviso in the Labor/HHS Appropriations language does not in itself provide sufficient assurance of copyright protection," Crawford told the LJ Academic Newswire. "The mandatory deposit of copyrighted articles in an online government site for worldwide distribution is in fundamental, inherent, and unavoidable conflict with the rights of copyright holders in those works."
Crawford asserted that the application of the policy to non-assenting publishers, "whether cloaked in the guise of funding, appropriations, or other policy," is "an extraordinary and unprecedented exception to the most fundamental of publishers' copyrights—namely, the right to reproduce and distribute the copyrighted work." Such strong rhetoric seems to indicate that, if the bill becomes law (House and Senate votes are expected later this summer), publishers almost surely will challenge its legality in terms of copyright. Crawford also laid the foundation of a broader argument against the NIH policy, asserting that it would negatively impact the ability of trade representatives to enforce U.S. intellectual property rights internationally. "Requiring the mandatory submission of research articles for public, worldwide dissemination would set a very dangerous precedent," Crawford contended, "at the very time we are fighting abroad to protect the intellectual property rights that are so important to securing this nation's competitive position."
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NetLibrary, Recorded Books Sue Each Other
Recorded Books, the world's largest provider of audiobooks, and NetLibrary are suing each other for breach of contract, violation of copyright, unfair competition, and defamation, among other charges, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, MD. The dispute comes three years into a licensing and distribution agreement that made approximately 2000 e-audiobooks from Recorded Books, downloadable through NetLibrary, a division of the Ohio-based nonprofit library giant OCLC. According to Recorded Books, the deal was supposed to be exclusive, yet NetLibrary entered into agreements with the Bibliographical Center for Research and SOLINET to distribute e-audiobooks from publishers such as Random House, Books on Tape, Listen and Live, Listening Library, and Blackstone Audio.
On May 4, Recorded Books subsequently notified a number of subscriber libraries that the NetLibrary contract had been terminated and that no Recorded Books content would be available through NetLibrary after May 31, but so far, service to the 1700 libraries that subscribe to Recorded Books' content through NetLibrary seems largely unaffected. NetLibrary, meanwhile, sent its own letter to librarians assuring them that not only would Recorded Books content be available after May 31, but for the following three years
Recorded Books' suit charges NetLibrary with both breach of contract and copyright infringement, the latter stemming from NetLibrary's continuing distribution of its content. NetLibrary's counterclaim asserts that content from other e-audiobook providers is allowed as long as Recorded Books consents to it but argued that Recorded Books refused to meet with NetLibrary to do so, causing NetLibrary to suffer "economic damages." Neither Recorded Books nor NetLibrary would comment on the details of the litigation, or the potential impact on libraries. A hearing is scheduled for July 24 on Recorded Books' request for an injunction to stop NetLibrary from distributing its content.
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| Oregon State University Press Now Part of the Library
The Oregon State University (OSU) Press has a new home: a division of the OSU Libraries. The 46-year-old press been part of OSU's Division of Academic Affairs, but a university task force examining business trends affecting the OSU Press recommended last spring concluded that it should be made part of the library system. The task force noted that several academic presses nationwide achieved "greater financial success and stability in relationships with their respective libraries."
University Librarian Karyle Butcher, who has held that position at OSU for 26 years, will also now serve as director of the press. "The library shares with the press commitments to ensuring that knowledge is widely accessible," Butcher said, "and that there is a venue for research to be published and disseminated." Tom Booth, formerly the press's marketing manager, had served as interim director over the past year. As assistant director, he will now focus on acquiring manuscripts and fostering the visibility of OSU Press books. "I believe our collaboration—with its synergies in marketing, fund raising, and technological initiatives—will result in a stronger, more vital publishing program at OSU," Booth noted.
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| Reed Elsevier Sells Harcourt Education to Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group
Just months after announcing its plans to divest its Harcourt Education division, Reed Elsevier said yesterday it has found a buyer. Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep will pay $4 billion for the U.S. Schools and Education division. Combined with the agreement this May to sell Harcourt's assessment and international businesses to Pearson, Elsevier will have reaped $4.95 billion from the sale of its remaining Harcourt asserts, funds Reed Elsevier officials say will help "sharpen our strategic focus on our Scientific & Medical, Legal and Business divisions."
The Harcourt Education division was acquired by Reed Elsevier in July 2001 as part of its acquisition of Harcourt General, an acquisition that elicited strong opposition from the library community at the time. Reed Elsevier paid roughly $4.5 billion in 2001 for Harcourt and assumed $1.2 billion in debt. About $2.1 billion of that sale price was for the Education division. Harcourt's substantial STM businesses were folded into Elsevier Science.
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Library Journal Academic Newswire
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