From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 15:50:07 -0700

Stewart Manley of the law faculty at the University of Malaya in Kuala
Lumpur has an interesting new article in* Learned Publishing*: "On the
limitations of recent lawsuits against Sci-Hub, OMICS, ResearchGate, and
Georgia State University," *doi: 10.1002/leap.1254* (probably paywalled for
many).  He assesses the effect on real world behavior of recent lawsuits
advanced and won against institutions pressing forward with open access
strategies by major publishers.  He gives these "key points":


   - The 2017 Sci-Hub judgment has, to date, proven unenforceable, and it
   appears that enforcing the 2019 OMICS judgment will similarly prove
   challenging.
   - Business developments and changing expectations over sharing digital
   content may also undermine the impact of the ongoing cases against
   ResearchGate and Georgia State University.
   - Stakeholders should consider these limitations when deciding how to
   resolve scholarly publishing disputes.


It's not unprecedented that attempts at definitive action/direction through
political/legal institutions may be rendered irrelevant by adjustments in
the behavior of stakeholders pursuing their own interests.  In this case it
makes the author optimistic that moves toward open access will in fact
prevail in spite of legal defeats or restrictions.

Jim O'Donnell
ASU