2009/2/8 Bernard Rentier <brentier_at_ulg.ac.be>:
> On 07-Feb.-09 at 14:18, Klaus Graf wrote :
>
>> 2009/2/6 Bernard Rentier <brentier_at_ulg.ac.be>:
>>>
>>> 1. Universities may legitimately own a repository of all the
>>> publications by
>>> their employees, no matter what their statutes can be, they may
>>> also impose
>>> a mandate and simply enforce it by making it conditional for futher
>>> in-house
>>> funding, advancement, promotions, etc.
>>
>> This isn't true for Germany, see http://archiv.twoday.net/search?q=mandat
>> Legal mainstream in Germany says that the freedom of research forbidds
>> mandating on university level.
>>
>> Klaus Graf
>
> It is most unfortunate for German researchers and for German
> Institutions (Universities & Research Centres). As opposed to
> researchers in other countries, they are missing a superb opportunity
> for efficient worldwide dissemination of the knowledge they generate...
>
> I have a hard time understanding what this "legal mainstream" means
> and what is the rationale for it... It sounds more like a moral
> mainstream to me. Indeed, is it unclear whether it is a law, a decree,
> a widely followed institutional rule, or a dominant frame of mind ?
>
I do not share the opinions of the German legal experts but it is a
fact that the legal mainstream in Germany regards a mandate not
compatible with the freedom of research (art. 5 Grundgesetz) i.e.
against a fundamental right of the German constitution. It wouldn't be
enough to change a law according these opinions - the constitution has
to be changed (with other words: forget it). I do not think that
there is a chance to convince the German jurists.
Klaus Graf
Received on Sun Feb 08 2009 - 20:03:58 GMT