From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 20 May 2014 00:08:03 -0500

Given that this new enterprise seems to be the brainchild of Pamela
Samuelson, it seems to be aimed at mobilizing that group of authors
who do not depend on publications for their living but have a strong
interest, for career and other reasons, in maximizing free access to
their writings. It was clear from the Authors Guild suit against
Google that academics like Samuelson felt that the Guild did not
represent the interests of nonprofessional writers like her and her
academic colleagues, so now she wants an organization that will be
able to lobby for those interests.

My question to her and her colleagues is what they think should happen
with scholarly publishing. Many of the people leading this new
Alliance and on its advisory board have benefited from publishing
books with university presses.  Are they going to try bringing
pressure on university administrators so that university presses are
funded in such a way as to enable them to engage in OA publishing of
monographs?  Or do they simply want to weaken copyright protections on
which university presses actually depend to conduct their business
now, since universities generally require their presses to recover
most of their costs from sales in the marketplace?

I can see this Alliance as potentially helping scholarly publishing
move in a direction that will free it of the necessity to rely on
copyright protections, but if the Alliance is not careful, it could
end up killing the goose before it has a chance to lay the golden egg.

Sandy Thatcher



> From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 18:12:12 -0400
>
> Of possible interest:  https://authorsalliance.org/intro.html
>
> "The mission of Authors Alliance is to further the public interest in
> facilitating widespread access to works of authorship by helping
> authors navigate the opportunities and challenges of the digital age.
> We provide information and tools designed to help authors better
> understand and manage key legal, technological, and institutional
> aspects essential to a knowledge economy of abundance. We are also a
> voice for authors in discussions about public and institutional
> policies that might promote or inhibit broad dissemination.
>
> "If you are interested in our mission, please join us at our launch,
> 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday May 21st at the Internet Archive in San
> Francisco. For more details and to RSVP please visit:
>
> authorsalliance.eventbrite.com