... I do have some sympathy for [Rep. John] Conyers’ process concerns. I have minor misgivings about the process in which the NIH policy was written into law, via the appropriations process. By my count, neither open access generally nor the NIH policy specifically were the subject of a hearing before the policy was signed into law. I think that’s unfortunate; public access is a significant public policy issue and it should have had a public hearing. That’s not to say there was no public discussion in Congress: it was raised at least as far back as 2005, in the Senate confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services nominee Michael Levitt, and again in 2006 at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. But the NIH has now had a public hearing, courtesy of last year’s incarnation of Conyers’ own bill. Even if we would have preferred a hearing ex ante, you can’t change the past.
But here’s the problem with Conyers’ claim: open access is not copyright policy. At least, the NIH Public Access Policy is not copyright policy: it doesn’t amend copyright one whit, and even specifies explicitly that the law be implemented “in a manner consistent with copyright law”.
Since the NIH policy is a matter of the disposition of federal money, it’s appropriate for the Appropriations Committee to make policy in this area. It’s also a matter of science and education (and, in the case of the NIH, health): it’d be appropriate to hear from committees in those areas, too. If Conyers wants to ensure the issue is seen by committees with “relevant jurisdictional expertise”, he ought to ask those committees to hold hearings.
Instead, Conyers sees it as a copyright issue, because some publishers rely on a certain method of acquiring and managing copyright for their business model. In other words: according to Rep. Conyers, tangential copyright concerns should come before the efficient and equitable spending of taxpayer dollars, and before health, science, and education!
That’s a crazy approach to public policy. It’s a shame, it’s misguided, and Congress should reject it.
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 3/09/2009 04:00:00 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.
