From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2017 18:00:27 -0500

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-07817-1

"Around 200 German universities will lose their subscriptions to
Elsevier journals within weeks, because negotiations have failed to
end a long-term contract dispute.

"The conflict between Elsevier, the world’s biggest publisher of
scientific journals, and Germany’s entire university system has
dragged on since 2015. Academics in the country lost access to
Elsevier content briefly early this year, but it was later restored
while contract talks resumed.

"Advocates of open-access publishing worldwide say that victory for
the German universities would be a major blow to conventional models
of scientific publishing based on subscription fees. Germany’s firm
stand in the battle to reduce subscription prices and promote
immediate open access could herald profound changes to the global
landscape of scholarly publishing, they say."

[SNIP]

"Negotiators with ‘Project DEAL’, a consortium of university libraries
and research institutes, have been in talks with Elsevier for more
than two years. They want a deal that would give most scientists in
Germany full online access to 2,500 or so Elsevier journals, at about
half the price that individual libraries have paid in the past. Open
access is proving to be the sticking point in the talks: under the
deal sought, all corresponding authors affiliated with German
institutions would be allowed to make their papers free to read and
share by anyone in the world at no extra cost."

[SNIP]