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Those are two very good points, Vivian (and please, no apology is necessary for your English - far from it). On the second one, some journal and book publishers have slightly different copyright terms to others, but we should insist on the freedom to circulate work to colleagues regardless. On the first point, yes, you are absolutely right. Back when I was journal editing, I had no reservations at all about sending off pdf copies of papers to colleagues in countries where subscription to the journal was likely to be out of reach. From the publishers point of view, that might have been compromising a potential customer, but in reality some institutions are never going to afford the inflated subscription charges for major journals, so there is some obligation on those of us with access to be supportive and generous in providing papers. Whether that will put us in difficulties with some publishers is another matter: it depends whether the big publishers really want to put themselves on the wrong side of a moral case. Terry Terry O'Connor Professor of Archaeological Science Department of Archaeology, University of York Biology S Block, Heslington, York YO10 5DD +44-1904-328619 http://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/academic-staff/terry-oconnor/ http://www.sciculture.ac.uk/projects/large-grants/cultural-and-scientific-perceptions-of-human-chicken-interactions/ <http://yorkfestivalofideas.com/> On 17 October 2013 00:44, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Let me introduce to you another point of view on the subject. And please, > do excuse me for my English. I imagine that with a little effort it could > be understood. > > First, I am paid for the Argentinean government to do research in Argentina > (a Third World country where resources did not abound). But when I publish > with the great commercial publishers they request me to confer them my > copyrights. When my country buys a license to these same giants, they > charge it as they charge any other client. So my country can not afford the > full license. Conclusion: I have access to a very scant and limited set of > articles. > So, as a result of this perverse system, my country is financing the great > publishers (by means of my copyrights) while researchers around here, if it > weren’t by our colleagues solidarity, are left aside of intellectual > circulation. > > Second, I do not know what happens in other parts of the world but here, in > Argentina, is illegal that the authors can confer their rights to any > publisher because, even if they could be scientist they are matched to the > category of “creators”, just as any other writer. And this is a law voted > at our congress in 1933. You, as an author, keep your right to do as you > want with your work. Maybe in UK or in USA is different but they are not > the whole world. That issue may vary. > In any case, what is the problem with sharing with your colleagues a paper? > It is not a journal issue, not even a whole book we are talking about here: > we are talking about a book’s chapter or a paper. We are talking also about > social networking among researchers, something that allow that some sort of > equity emerges from a very asymmetrical world. Something that Academia.edu > and this list allow us to reach. > > Best > > Dra Vivian Scheinsohn > INAPL-CONICET/ UBA > 3 de Febrero 1370 > (1426 ) Capital Federal > Buenos Aires > Argentina > TE/Fax 54 11 4784 3371 > E-mail:[log in to unmask] > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - > http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange >