Critics say a directive to make federally funded research immediately free to the public could violate authors’ copyrights. It could also disrupt the $19 billion academic publishing industry.

Oh those sad, sorry publishers. It’ll be so hard on them if they can’t make as many billion dollars per year off publicly funded research. How will they ever survive on less than $19 billion?

FTA:

Although open-access advocates and library groups support the move, opponents argue the new policy will limit researchers’ ability to maintain control of their published work—and cut into the $19 billion academic publishing industry’s profit margins.

  • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
    15·
    3 months ago

    opponents argue the new policy will limit researchers’ ability to maintain control of their published work

    From what I understand, researchers already aren’t able to maintain control of their published work because of the publishers.

  • Uncle_Abbie@literature.cafeEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    Typically your work belongs to the person who pays you for it. So it seems to me that if it’s paid for by the public, then it’s owned by the public.

  • Rolando@lemmy.world
    4·
    3 months ago

    The whole article’s worth reading.

    Currently, the academic publishing industry’s business model relies largely on an author’s willingness to submit work for free—or even pay to publish it—and the publisher’s ability to turn around and sell that research to academic libraries through expensive journal subscriptions. Libraries at doctoral-granting institutions spend about 80 percent of their materials budgets on such subscriptions …