Martina Habeck, Compromise reached over German copyright bill, The Scientist, April 10, 2003. Publishers say that the new copyright bill makes it too easy for scholars and libraries to make unauthorized digital copies. But on the other side, "[p]roponents of open-access publishing models argue that the bill blocks the way to a free information society....Following heated debates in the national press last week, the German Parliament's legal committee decided yesterday to strike a compromise between the opposing sides. The wording of the controversial paragraph 52a will not be changed, but during a transitional period that will end in 2006, its implementation will be under close scrutiny. If the publishers' worries become reality, the bill will be corrected."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/13/2003 10:30:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
