From: "Peretsman-Clement, Gail" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 04:07:35 +0000

Sorry for any confusion, but there seems to be no prior reference in
this thread to theology or evidence of reifying anything. Some of us
library copyright managers in this discussion are recognizing the
importance and value of following existing law, which in the U.S.
system balances the rights of owners and users, yes?

-- Gail



> On Mar 2, 2016, at 12:56 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2016 10:28:33 +0000
>
> It is probably worth remember that the policy of ignoring copyrights
> granted by foreign governments, which is what SciHub is doing, was
> also the stance of the American publishing industry throughout the
> 19th century.  Publishing grew as fast as it did in the U.S. in part
> because it was able to publish works from abroad without negotiating
> royalties, since our nation did not recognize rights over foreign IP.
>
> Copyright is not a god-given natural right, and we should avoid
> reifying it.  It is, in fact, a form of economic social engineering
> design to achieve particular conditions.  When it no longer serves its
> purpose, it may be time to reconsider our commitment to the copyright
> regime once again, as a policy decision made for specific historical
> conditions that no longer obtain.
>
> Kevin