Go Gold or go home: UK Research Council makes a stance on open access | Kennisland

"Copyright on scientific articles applies just as long as on any other work. The European standard for this is the death of the author plus seventy years. In the case of literary works this is very long, but the relevance of novels diminishes less quickly than that of scientific articles. In the case of science, it is important for the development of new research and the ability to teach cutting edge knowledge, to either cut back on the duration of copyright protection (unlikely to happen) or have rules for the ability to use the copyrighted articles. This is where open access comes in. When the articles are published in an open access journal, they are easier to find and easier to use. Open access enables institutions who do not have the budget to pay the high fees of the non-open publications the ability to use new research."