2009/2/8 Bernard Rentier <[email protected]>: > On 07-Feb.-09 at 14:18, Klaus Graf wrote : > >> 2009/2/6 Bernard Rentier <[email protected]>: >>> >>> 1. Universities may legitimately own a repository of all the >>> publications by >>> their employees, no matter what their statutes can be, they may >>> also impose >>> a mandate and simply enforce it by making it conditional for futher >>> in-house >>> funding, advancement, promotions, etc. >> >> This isn't true for Germany, see http://archiv.twoday.net/search?q=mandat >> Legal mainstream in Germany says that the freedom of research forbidds >> mandating on university level. >> >> Klaus Graf > > It is most unfortunate for German researchers and for German > Institutions (Universities & Research Centres). As opposed to > researchers in other countries, they are missing a superb opportunity > for efficient worldwide dissemination of the knowledge they generate... > > I have a hard time understanding what this "legal mainstream" means > and what is the rationale for it... It sounds more like a moral > mainstream to me. Indeed, is it unclear whether it is a law, a decree, > a widely followed institutional rule, or a dominant frame of mind ? >
I do not share the opinions of the German legal experts but it is a fact that the legal mainstream in Germany regards a mandate not compatible with the freedom of research (art. 5 Grundgesetz) i.e. against a fundamental right of the German constitution. It wouldn't be enough to change a law according these opinions - the constitution has to be changed (with other words: forget it). I do not think that there is a chance to convince the German jurists. Klaus Graf
