Dear colleagues Here is the link to our latest contribution to the ongoing discussion on copyright in the realm of taxonomy: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/7/79/abstract
The question we are interested in in this series of studies is where the legal boundaries of copyright are, and where they have to be moved in favor of open access. It has to be seen in the context of beyond green road open access but in the realm of semantic enhanced publishing and linked open data. Though taxonomy within biology has not yet neither full green nor gold open access, we have tracks that are very advanced regarding open access publishing (eg Pensoft journals) and that allow to look into what we consider the real import steps in publishing and scientific communitcation, open access semantic enhanced linked publishing. Abstract Background As biological disciplines extend into the 'big data' world, they will need a names-based infrastructure to index and interconnect distributed data. The infrastructure must have access to all names of all organisms if it is to manage all information. Those who compile lists of species hold different views as to the intellectual property rights that apply to the lists. This creates uncertainty that impedes the development of a much-needed infrastructure for sharing biological data in the digital world. Findings: The laws in the United States of America and European Union are consistent with the position that scientific names of organisms and their compilation in checklists, classifications or taxonomic revisions are not subject to copyright. Compilations of names, such as classifications or checklists, are not creative in the sense of copyright law. Many content providers desire credit for their efforts. Conclusions A 'blue list' identifies elements of checklists, classifications and monographs to which intellectual property rights do not apply. To promote sharing, authors of taxonomic content, compilers, intermediaries, and aggregators should receive citable recognition for their contributions, with the greatest recognition being given to the originating authors. Mechanisms for achieving this are discussed. Best regards Donat
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