[Taxacom] ZooBank reality check: scanning and copyright

[Richard Jensen]

Fred,

Not all publishers that deal with these problems are "commercial 
publishers" s.l. Many publishers are professional societies that make an 
effort to provide low cost publication of scientific papers (e.g., no or 
quite low page charges, individual subscription rates that are often 
less than the cost of a single textbook). In many cases, the dues that 
are generated don't cover the costs of publication. Thus, membership in 
the society, and subscription to, the journal is a bargain. The 
societies are able to do this because they also sell institutional 
subscriptions at a higher cost. The societies are providing real value 
for what they do, but they do need to generate *profit* in order to keep 
operating. And, most hold joint copyright with the authors, although 
they often allow the authors freedom to act as if the author holds all 
copyright privileges. I see no "intellectual property boffins" here. 
This is a good model and has worked well for a number of societies.

Dick J.

Richard Jensen, Professor
Department of Biology
Saint Mary’s College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Tel: 574-284-4674



Frederick W. Schueler wrote:
> Richard Pyle wrote:
>   
>> Consider this: It is my creative opinion that Centropyge flavicauda is a junior synonym of C. fisheri.
>>     
>
>   
>> ...then any computerized database that indexed the treatment by Pyle (2003) of C. flavicauda as a junior synonym of C. fisheri, would be in violation of copyright.
>>     
>
>   
>> Not being an expert in such legal matters, I'm certain that I'm being entirely naïve about all of this.  But I just wanted to parse out the "fact" from the copyrightable intellectual property.
>>     
>
> * the problem here, as in so many interfaces of science with other
> features of society, is the broader one of a conflict in value systems.
> The intellectual property boffins profit from selling their (or others')
> works for money, and thus obtain what they regard as status. Scientists,
> on the other hand, obtain status from their work only through its
> citation and discussion. Their income and influence both are increased
> only by the status that comes through the widest possible dissemination
> and citation of their work, so they always hope to induce its use by
> others, not restrict it. The problems we're discussing here arise only
> when the intervention of commercial publishers mixes up the two systems
> of value.
>
> fred.
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