Jonathan Gray, Public interest information policy in Germany, Open Knowledge Foundation Wiki, February 17, 2009. The unabridged English version of an article, in German, from Das Progressiv Zentrum, January 29 2009. Excerpt:
...In general there is significant support for open access [to research] in Germany. At the time of writing there are over 146 open access journals and over 150 open access repositories based at German institutions. Several research funders, such as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), have supported open access in their funding policies. Though open access still has a relatively low public profile, there are traces of discussion in political debate. For example, last month the Green Party recently called for open access at the 27. Ordentliche Bundesdelegiertenkonferenz.
However its not all good news. Though there is significant support for open access in Germany - this is not mainstream. Recent amendments in copyright law, coming into force at the end of 2008, mean that authors may have to intervene to retain rights enabling them to deposit their work in open access repositories. Only one institution, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, has a mandate requiring open access - which came into effect earlier this year. Public pressure for more mandates requiring open access to publicly funded research - such as adopted by the Wellcome Trust in the UK, or NIH in the US - could help to keep Germany at the cutting edge in this area....
Policy recommendations
Support legislation as well as licensing and pricing policies that support public re-usability of Public Sector Information. The creation of a national register of PSI assets, and the commissioning of a country-wide and cross-sector report would help to inform appropriate activity in this area.
Support mandates for open access to publicly funded research. These should target higher education institutions, as well as funding bodies and umbrella organisations.
Keep the public domain in the public domain. Encourage publicly funded cultural heritage institutions to allow digital copies of their holdings to be re-used by the public. Encourage the adoption of intellectual property law and policy that takes account of public interest, as well as private interests.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/18/2009 01:18:00 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.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
