AAAS Workshops on Electronic Publishing in Science-Intellectual Property Protections

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Frankel This project contributes to the NSF Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence research area, being directed at deepening our understanding of the ethical, legal, and social implications of Knowledge Networking. This series of workshops will examine the intellectual property issues associated with electronic publishing in science. Electronic journals in science, engineering and medicine have grown dramatically in recent years. However, for the most part these publications are merely electronic reproductions of their print counterparts; they have been slow to adopt the novel features that online production makes possible. There are a variety of reasons for this, but whether or not electronic publications are to reach their full potential and be fully embraced by the scientific community will ultimately depend on establishing a clear and stable legal framework. The advent of electronic publishing poses a number of intellectual property issues for science, even in light of recent national and global efforts to bring copyright law into the information age. For example, to what extent can the notion of science as a `public good` be understood and valued in the increasing commercialization of the electronic market place? What should be the features of a legal framework that assures the protection of property interests yet encourages open communication and innovation? How will acceptable fair use exceptions be implemented in the context of electronic publishing? What is the `work` to be protected in dynamic/ interactive work? What changes in intellectual property law, if any, are needed to protect the creators and distributors of scientific databases? To what extent can technological innovations supplement or function as useful alternatives to new laws for protecting the reproduction and distribution rights of authors and publishers? These and related questions will be the focus of this proposal for a two-year project involving two workshops linked by a series of working group meetings consisting of key stakeholder groups in the sciences, electronic publishing, and intellectual property law. Recommendations for establishing a legal framework for U.S. copyright law as applied to electronic publishing in science are expected to be generated by the project and will be widely disseminated via print and electronic media. To ensure as much as possible their consideration by stakeholders and their impact on law and public policy, AAAS will sponsor briefings for scientific societies, associations, and publishers, and the press as well as Congress and appropriate federal agencies. The project is co-sponsored by two AAAS standing committees: the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility and the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists, a joint committee with the American Bar Association. An advisory committee, drawing on the most knowledgeable members of both committees on issues related to electronic publishing and intellectual property law, has been formed to guide the project.