开放存取运动中的数字权利管理.docx

开放存取运动中的数字权利管理.docx

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开放存取运动中的数字权利管理

开放存取运动中的数字权利管理

来源：

openAccess

Abstract:

GrowingconvictionthatscientificprogresswillsignificantlybenefitifscholarlyarticlesandresearchpapersaremadefreelyavailableontheWebhasgivenrisetotheOpenAccess（OA）movement.WhilethereissomeawarenessthatOAarticlesmayrequiredigitalrightsmanagement（DRM）,thereiscurrentlyonlylow-levelinterestinthetopic,withmanyOAadvocatesmaintainingthatithasnorelevancetoOA.TheissueiscomplicatedbythefactthattherearecurrentlytwowaysinwhichresearchpapersaremadeOA,eachofwhichhasdifferentimplicationsfromarightspointofview.

Keywords:

policyanalysis–copyrightlaw,CreativeCommons,DRMSdesign,OpenAccess,scholarlypublishing,stakeholders

Introduction

OAhasgainedalotoftractionoverthelastyear,butithasalsoattractedconsiderableresistancefromcommercialandsocietypublishers.SincetheycurrentlygeneratesubstantialincomesfromsellingsubscriptionstotheirjournalsscholarlypublishersfearthatifresearchismadefreelyavailableontheInternettheserevenueswillbesignificantlythreatened.

GiventheconsequentstrugglesimplytomakeOpenAccesshappenmanyOAadvocatesarguethatworryingaboutDRMtodaycouldproveadistractionfromthemoreimportanttaskof"freeingtherefereedliterature."

SincemanyalsoviewDRMassynonymouswiththeuseof"technicalmeasures"designedtorestrictaccess,ratherthanasabroadsetoftoolsformanagingrightsinadigitalenvironment,thereisatendencytoseeDRMasanissueforproprietaryinterestsalone.Thedangeris,however,thatiftheOAmovementfailstoengagewiththetopicthoseproprietaryinterestsmaysettheDRMagenda,tothepossibledetrimentofOA.

Nevertheless,somepreliminaryworkonDRMisbeingdonebytheOAmovement,andthegrowingsuccessoftheCreativeCommons（cf.sources）mayencourageOAadvocatestotakeagreaterinterestinthetopic.

WhatisDRM?

AnydiscussionofDRMinthecontextofOAhasfirsttoseektodefinetheterm.ThecontinuingcontroversysurroundingP2Pandillegalfileswapping,forinstance,hasledmanytoconcludethatDRMamountstolittlemorethan"lockingup"contentwithelectronicpadlocks.Indeed,sincethisperceivedemphasisonrestrictingaccessisviewedastheveryantithesisofOA,DRMhasbecomethebétenoirofmanyOAadvocates.

WhatthisoverlynarrowviewofDRMoverlooks,however,isthatdigitalrightsmanagementimpliessomethingbroaderthanaccesscontrolalone.Itcanalsobeused,forinstance,toensurecorrectauthorattribution,tocertifydocumentintegrityandprovenance,topreventplagiarism,andindeedtoenablecreatorsasserttheirrightsinwaysthatencourage–ratherthanrestrict–access.

ItmaybehelpfulinthisregardtoviewDRMasatwo-layeredcake.Inthismodelthefirstlayerconsistsofmetadatathatdefinetheusagerules（rights）associatedwiththecontent.Thenontopofthiscanbeplacedan（optional）secondlayerofsoftware-imposedlimitationsoncopying,printing,viewingetc.（i.e.technicalmeasures）inordertoenforcetheusagerules.

SomeOAadvocatesarguethatneitherlayerisrelevantinanOAenvironment.Afterall,theysay,theaimofOAistomakeresearchpapersavailabletoeveryone,withoutrestriction.Itmaybethattheuseoftechnicalmeasures–evenforapparentlyharmlesspurposessuchasensuringdocumentintegrity–willprove"politically"unpalatablefortheOAmovement（althoughFrederickFriend'sINDICAREarticle（Friend2004）appearstodemuronthis）.Thereare,however,strongreasonsforarguingthattheuseofrightsmetadatadoeshaveanimportantroletoplay,andwillforthisreasonbethemainfocusofthisarticle.

Whatauthorsrequire

Itisclear,forinstance,thatinmakingtheirresearchfreelyavailableontheWebresearchershavenointentionofgivingawaytheirIPR.Theironlyaimistoallowotherstoreadandbuildontheirworkwithoutfacingtheobstacleofthetoll-barriersrepresentedbyincreasinglyexpensivejournalsubscriptions.

InfactweknowresearcherswanttomaintaincontrolovertheirworkontheWebbecausetheyhavetoldusso.In2002,forinstance,whentheJISC-fundedRightsMetadataforOpenarchiving（RoMEO）Project（cf.sources）askedresearchersfortheirviews55percentofthosesurveyed（bothOAandnon-OAauthors）saidtheywantedtolimitusageoftheirworkstocertainpurposes–e.g.educationalornon-commercial.

Andwhileover60%werehappyforthirdpartiestodisplay,print,save,excerptfromandgiveawaytheirpapers,theywantedthistobeonconditionthattheywereattributedastheauthorsandthatallcopiesdistributedweredonesoverbatim.

WhatRoMEOmadeclear,saysSteveProbets,alecturerininformationscienceatUK-basedLoughboroughUniversitywhowasinvolvedintheRoMEOProject,isthat"authorsareinterestedinmaintainingsomeformofcontroloverwhocandowhatwiththeirarticles."

AsBrianSimboli,asciencelibrarianatLehighUniversityinBethlehem,PAputsit:

"Theshiftfromtoll-accesstoopenaccessmay（illogically）encouragepeopletoassumethatthewholeconcept'intellectualproperty'hasorshouldundergosomesortofseachange.Intellectualpropertyisstillintellectualproperty,regardlessofhowitisaccessed"（Simboli2005）.

Somerightsreserved

WhattheRoMEOsurveyalsorevealed,however,isthatthe"allrightsreserved"modelofclassicalcopyrightismorethanmostresearcherswant."[T]heprotectionoffered[to]researchpapersbycopyrightlaw,"thereportconcluded"iswayinexcessofthatrequiredbymostacademics."

Inotherwords,whenreleasingtheirworkontotheopenseasoftheWebOAauthorsareinterestedinassertingonlysomeoftherightsoftraditionalcopyright（e.g.therighttobenamedasauthor）,whilewaivingotherrights（e.g.therighttocopyormakederivativeworks）.Thatis,theirwishistomaketheirpapersavailableona"somerightsreserved"basis.

Butifresearchersdon’tmakecleartotheirreadersonwhatbasisapaperhasbeenreleased,howwilltheirreadersknow?

Theymaymistakenlyassume,forinstance,thatapaperhasbeenmadeavailablewithoutanyrestrictiononitsuseandreuse,asifithadsimplybeenplacedinthepublicdomain.Alternatively,theymayfeelconstrainedaboutusingapaperinthemoreliberalwaytheauthorintends,forfearoflegalreprisal.

Consequently,iftheydismissDRMOAauthorsriskdeprivingthemselvesofausefulmechanismforspecifyingonwhatbasistheyaremakingtheirwork"freely"available.

Expressionofrights

Forthisreason,in2002ProjectRoMEObegandevelopinganXML-basedsystemdesignedtoexpressrightsandpermissionsinanOAenvironment.TheseissuesarenotuniquetoOAauthorshowever.Motivatedbythesamedesiretoprovidegreaterlicensingflexibilityforweb-basedcontent,forinstance,in2002anumberofintellectualpropertylawyers,includingLawrenceLessig（cf.sources）andJamesBoyle（cf.sources）,foundedCreativeCommons（CC）.

ByseparatingoutthebasketofrightsprovidedbyclassicalcopyrightCreativeCommonsaimstogivecreatorsgreaterflexibilitytomixandmatchthoserightstheywishtoassert,andthosetheywanttowaive.

TheapplicabilityofCreativeCommonstoOAwasimmediatelyapparenttotheProjectRoMEOteam,whoincorporatedCClicencesintotheworktheyweredoing.ExplainsProbets:

"[T]hefeelingsoftheRoMEOProjectwerethattheCreativeCommonslicenceswouldbesufficienttospecifythemajorityofrestrictions/conditionsrequiredbyauthors（e.g.thatauthorsareattributed,orthatderivativeworksorcommercialusesareallowed）."

Probets,however,questionswhetherinsertingrightsmetadataintoOApaperscanbeclassifiedasDRM."I'mnotsurethatIwouldregardtheselicencesasaDRMsolution",hesays."[They]indicatethewaystheworkcanbeused;theydonottechnicallyenforcethattheseconditions/restrictionsareapplied."

This,however,issurelytoonarrowaviewofDRM.Howbettertodescribetheprocessofinsertingmachine-readablerightsinformationintodigitalcontentinordertocontrolhowitisusedthan"digitalrightsmanagement"?

Othersarguethatutilisingrightsmetadatawithoutanymeansofenforcingtheirprohibitionsispointless.Bythesamereasoning,however,wemightconcludethatitisawasteoftimecreatinganyrule,orlaw,unlessitcanbephysicallyenforcedatthepointofpotentialinfringement.Wealsoknowthatanyonehappytoinfringecopyrightlawcancircumventmostifnotalltheelectronicpadlocksdevisedtodate.

TworoadstoOA:

Thecaseofthe"GoldRoad"

Forresearcherswantingtobettermanagetherightsintheirpapers,however,thereisamoreimmediateproblemthanenforcement–namelyhowtheyestablishanddefinetheirrightsinthefirstplace.AndsincetherearetwowaysinwhichresearcherscanmaketheirpapersOAaone-size-fits-allapproachisnotcurrentlypossible.

Forresearchersusingthe"GoldRoad"toOAmattersarerelativelystraightforward:

theycansimplypublishinoneofthenew-stylescholarlyjournalsproducedbyOApublisherslikeBioMedCentral（BMC）（cf.sources）andthePublicLibraryofScience（PLoS）（cf.sources）.Byreversingthetraditionalsubscriptionmodelandchargingauthors（ormorelikelytheirfunders）afeetopublish,ratherthanchargingreaderstoread,goldenpublishersareabletomakeresearchpapersfreelyavailableontheWebwithoutanyaccesscosts.

Moreimportantly,bytreatingpublishingasaserviceprovidedtotheauthor,ratherthanasapropertytransactioninwhichthepublisheracquirescopyrightinreturnforpublishingapaper,bothBMCandthePLoSarehappytous