INSIGHT


‘‘ Knowledge Rights 21 Access to knowledge - researching our loss M Open Access


To highlight these problems and fill evidence gaps Knowledge Rights 21 has a rolling programme of commissioning academic studies. One exciting study (http://cuts2.com/HwnIe) we have commissioned with SPARC Europe is looking at how successful author rights retention has been. It draws on this experience to share lessons from funders and universities’ active support of this form of open access.


Linked to this is another study on Secondary Publishing Rights undertaken by LIBER (http://cuts2.com/GcEsO). Secondary Publishing Rights, which six European countries have already adopted and is currently being promoted by the European Commission (http://cuts2. com/eKKNm), is a right or obligation in the law for researchers to republish in an open access repository all publicly funded research. Spain is probably the best example; whereas other countries allow for a delay in publication, it creates an obligation for researchers to republish their publicly funded research immediately. (See Knowledge Rights


30 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


UCH of what we do at Knowledge Rights 21, an Arcadia funded project, is driven by the erosion of access


to knowledge that the transition from analogue to digital has wrought.


The internet has revolutionised how we access information but the effective abandonment by publishers of copyright law in favour of licences has curtailed what we can access, what we can do with the content and how much we now pay for it. The monopoly that licensing creates around digital content combined with dysfunctional information markets has brought many libraries and their patrons close to breaking point.


21’s Secondary Publisher Right position paper http://cuts2.com/tXOeQ).


Ebooks


However, guaranteeing rights to research, education and culture needs us to look beyond the academic and research sector.


One area is eBooks and eTextbooks. The shift to licensing in these markets has undoubtedly wrought significant disruption. Publishers can now refuse to give access to eBooks entirely as is the case with Hachette in public libraries. Even when there is access, it comes with complex and impermanent terms of access, making planning for the future far harder. For example, last year Wiley (http://bit.ly/3MRRP6b) decided to withdraw almost overnight, hundreds of their titles from universities in the UK as well as elsewhere. In the public library space, one international study of eBooks concluded that the UK “ has the least attractive licence terms, the highest prices, and the lowest availability”. As highlighted by the #eBookSoS campaign (https://academicebookinvestigation. org), issues abound: eye-watering pricing, refusal to license, bundling of titles and a lack of contractual transparency. To understand more about this, Knowledge Rights 21 has commissioned two eBook studies. One with the CREATE Centre at Glasgow University (http://cuts2. com/Mtams) is focussed on the competition law angle and another undertaken by Centrum Cyfrowe (http://cuts2.com/vXXSg) in Poland focusses on copyright law and a landmark 2016 Europeand Court of Justice case on eLending.


Furthermore, linked to these initiatives, based on an idea from CEO Nick Poole at CILIP, Knowledge Rights 21 has also worked with library associations across Europe to issue a public letter (https:// bit.ly/3qrBVIo) calling for government intervention in eBook markets.


Benjamin White is one of the founders of Knowledge Rights 21 and co-chair of its policy committee.


Publishers can now refuse to give access to eBooks entirely as is the case with Hachette in public libraries.


Flexibility


Last but not least in our current round of studies is one on flexibilities in copyright law which is being undertaken by the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management at Bournemouth University (http://cuts2.com/wstiE). Unlike the UK and Europe which have an enumerated list of specific exceptions in their copyright laws, a number of countries in North America and Asia have introduced flexible exceptions that support research, R&D and technological innovation. This is something we certainly believe the UK now that it is no longer subject to European copyright law should follow suit on.


In the pipeline Knowledge Rights 21 have further studies planned focussing on other areas of the information ecology which we will be delighted to update you on in due course, as well as a training course on copyright and advocacy. In the meantime, please keep an eye on our website (www. knowledgerights21.org/) and Twitter (@ KR21org) as the studies above come online over the next four months! IP


June 2023


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