Portuguese Civil Society Proposes Secondary Publication Rights and Obligation

"On 5 February, the magnificent Great Hall of the prestigious Academy of Sciences of Lisbon hosted Portugal’s first conference on Secondary Publication Rights (SPR). Not even an extraordinary storm that struck Lisbon for several days could prevent an afternoon of lively discussion on the role legislation should play in advancing Open Access to publicly funded scientific outputs.

The event was organised by civil society organisations Knowledge Rights 21, COMMUNIA, and the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Information and Documentation Professionals, alongside three Universities: NOVA University Lisbon, Coimbra University, and Minho University, with support from OPERAS and the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. The conference featured speakers from the European Commission, UNESCO, and academic experts. During the event, a group of civil society stakeholders presented a proposal to introduce a secondary publication right and corresponding obligation into Portuguese legislation."