Peter Suber, Open access and copyright

"From the beginning, OA struggled against the widespread assumption that it must violate copyright law. But this has been a struggle against perception, not reality. In fact, steering clear of infringement has always been easier than steering clear of this false assumption and the harm it has caused. The assumption has made some authors fear OA. It has made some institutions skittish about committing to OA. It has needlessly weakened some OA policies, for example, by creating loopholes for dissenting publishers. It has even been a dishonest pretext for bad legislation....There are bullet-proof methods for OA publishers and repositories to avoid copyright problems. These methods are better known today than they were five years ago, but we still struggle against the same false assumption, the same fear, the same skittishness, the same needless capitulation, and the same dishonesty. Here's an attempt to clarify the situation in a dozen propositions...."