Techdirt has been reporting for some time on the growing number of moves towards making academic work freely available to the public -- for example this recent major boost from the University of California. But what about the bigger picture?
Brazil, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the US have the highest rates of open access publishing. In Europe, 20 out of 27 countries, including the UK, are likely to have tipped towards a majority of papers published in 2008-2011 being made available for free.
is a policy paper by SURF (a collaborative organisation for ICT in Dutch higher education and research) commissioned by the European Commission about open access to content and infrastructure. This was done within the e-InfraNet project. (...) European opinion leaders and experts examined the context, motivations, developments and results of each of the ‘Opens’, revealing a collection of joint benefits and issues. Their study resulted in the recommendation for a coordinated policy approach, able to benefit all forms of ‘Open’.Download Summary here.
New rules being pushed forward by the commission still need formal approval from the European Parliament. But Neelie Kroes, a European Commission vice president said: “Opening up public data means opening up business opportunities, creating jobs and building communities. I welcome the Council’s agreement to this culture change.”
In other words, the selfish obstinacy of the copyright industries, in their refusal to consider any approach other than yet more licensing, is likely to cause serious economic losses to Europe, alongside the cultural ones. Once again, we have a clear demonstration of how copyright maximalists are happy to harm an entire continent rather than concede that their scarcity-based approach is outdated and needs to be re-thought in a world of digital abundance. That the copyright industries should cling to this retrogressive approach is no surprise - it’s what they’ve done at every turn for the last fifteen years or more. That the European Commission still hasn’t learned its lesson from the street demonstrations against ACTA last year, and tries to shore up decrepit intellectual monopolies to the disadvantage of the 500 million citizens of Europe it supposedly serves, is not just extraordinary, but truly shameful.Blog entry. Computerworld UK.
Internationally, the World Intellectual Property Organisation was looking at a range of new copyright exceptions and limitations. Nationally, an increasing number of EU countries were recognising the need for reforms while testing new ideas in this field. But it was suggested that a common European solution was needed to avoid fragmentation and to seize benefits for a European Digital Single Market.University World News.
the European Commission on Christmas Eve quietly pushed live the public beta version of its all-new open data portal.
Taking into account the extensive submissions from all stakeholders, they (the guidlines) contain in particular a reinforcement of open access obligations and improved transparency rules.
Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commission (OpenAIRE Conference 2012 - video message), OpenAIRE Conference “Enlightenment in the Knowledge Society: From Pilot to Service” - Göttingen State and University Library, 21 November 2012.
Worries about open access hit shares but analysts say developments unlikely to impact revenues yet.
The Guardian.
This website lists all documents in the development of the Commission’s policies on access to scientific information.
Jonathan Gray from the Open Knowledge Foundation looks at what the European Commission’s recent announcement on access to scientific data could mean for science and for public engagement with science.
Gray mentions that open data is seen as open not only to scientists but also to all citizens.
The Guardian. Data Blog.
Today we detail our plans to make available under open access all publications stemming from EU-funded research. We also commit to progressively open access to research data.
See also the official press release.