Trade unions may not strike over copyright, but I still have the bruises to
prove that copyright can cause a furore. At UCL a few years ago I dared to
suggest that UCL might own the copyright in some of the work of its academic
staff. I was vilified internally, the AUT (as it was then) were up in arms,
and I was pilloried in "Private Eye" for daring to make the suggestion. As
you can tell I survived to tell the tale, and appearing in "Private Eye" did
wonders for my image, but don't under-estimate the seething passions under
the calm surface of copyright.
Fred Friend
----- Original Message -----
From: "J.F.Rowland_at_lboro.ac.uk" <J.F.Rowland_at_LBORO.AC.UK>
To: <AMERICAN-SCIENTIST-OPEN-ACCESS-FORUM_at_LISTSERVER.SIGMAXI.ORG>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: Optimizing OA Self-Archiving Mandates
'the general fear of the employer about possible trade union action based on
copyright issues relating to academic research'
A fanciful argument. As Stevan often points out, scholarly papers - the
subject of this forum - are not money-making propositions anyway. Campus
trade unions and university managements have much more important issues to
fight about. I can't imagine a strike about copyright!
Fytton Rowland, Loughborough University, UK (President, Loughborough
University branch of the Association of University Teachers, 1999-2003)
Received on Fri Nov 30 2007 - 17:43:30 GMT