>Dear Stevan, >While I am fully aware of the distinction between the "give-away" literature >and the writing-for-fee literature, I can't help but wonder if the US >Supreme Court ruling (see below) will have implications for the scholarly >literature, as publishers have been digitizing back issues of journal >articles that were published before the arrival of electronic publishing and >before there were electronic rights for authors to give away. In other >words, could authors prevent publishers from digitizing the material that >they do not have the electronic rights to, just as some publishers have been >preventing authors from self-archiving? And what would this really mean, if >anything? > >Leslie Chan
I think Leslie's analysis is reasonable, though it must be stressed that this ruling only applies to the USA, and there is no reason to think the precedent set by the Supreme Court would necessarily be set in other countries. The decision certainly strengthens the hand of authors in their negotiations with publishers. Professor Charles Oppenheim Dept of Information Science Loughborough University Loughborough Leics LE11 3TU Tel 01509-223065 Fax 01509-223053
