Nature is not a Book » Does Open Access Demand the Scalps of Legacy Publishers?

"An agent of Elsevier publishing recently sent takedown notices to a lot of universities regarding copies of Elsevier journal articles republished by academics on the university web sites. This provoked affected outrage among certain open access (OA) advocates: Mike Taylor proclaimed that Elsevier was stepping up its 'War on Access'. Andrea Peterson, blogging for the Washington Post, reported that Elsevier is 'stopping academics from sharing their research'. Ross Mounce struck fear into the hearts of everyone (well – everyone who’d naughtily posted copies of Elsevier journal articles on the web, anyway) by annunciating that 'No-one is safe from these legal threats'. Now, if you read the example takedown notice posted on Ross’s own blog, you’ll see that although it does mention some laws, it doesn’t actually make any legal threat (although, naturally, it doesn’t rule them out either). It simply (and rather politely, IMHO) asks university admins to remove copies of journal articles posted on their uni web site. It expressly acknowledges that such postings may have been made in error and even offers a 'cost-free agreement' for people who specifically want to post such articles. Doesn’t seem to be much reason for anyone to be fearful unless they’re intent on flouting Elsevier’s copyright. That is where OA comes in. Let me say straight away that I’m all for OA. Sharing of knowledge and information is not just conducive to good science, but really the essence of what science is, I would say. Of course, I’d also say that real knowledge can only ever be personal and that science is ultimately a negotiation over whose accounts of their knowledge we take on trust and whose we don’t. But that’s a different story. My problem is with what is signified by the affectations of outrage that the Elsevier takedown notices have set off. The business model of ‘Legacy Publishers’ like Elsevier was established many decades ago. It predates web publishing, widespread use of personal computers and even the availability of cheap and easy photocopying. When the journal publishing business model was first established, its editorial offices, printing presses and distribution networks were all widely seen as essential to the dissemination of knowledge. Over the last thirty years or so, however, all those things have come to appear cumbersome and restrictive compared to the alternatives that information technology and the internet make possible ..."