Quick hit: Battle of the Opens

A quick link for you: people interested in Free Software and similar intellectual property sharing and re-mixing movements would probably enjoy reading Dorothea Salo’s Battle of the Opens, talking about open source, open access (to research literature) and many other related movements. I think, in general, that Open Access and Free Culture and so on are far more aware of the software movement than the software movement is aware of any of the movements it partly inspired.

Here’s an excerpt about open access:

What is being made open? The academic literature: specifically, the peer-reviewed journal literature which is not written for royalties or any other direct monetary reward to its authors. (While open-access advocates happily cheer for open access to books and other research media, the different money-flows in these areas mean they are not a focus of the movement.) Open-access literature is in opposition to literature which is not available to be read unless a subscription, per-article, or other fee is paid by the reader or the reader’s proxy (e.g. a library).

What legal regimes are implicated? Copyright, again. Typical practice for the academic article is that its author(s) transfer their copyright in its entirety to the journal publisher, allowing the publisher to control reuse.