From: "Seeley, Mark (ELS-CMA)" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2016 12:43:31 +0000

Replying to Professor Guédon:

Best of all possible worlds?  No, we do not live in utopia-- I was
suggesting that when thinking about reforms and changes it is always
wise to fully weigh and consider benefits and costs.  Of course I am
prejudiced towards thinking that the mechanism of delivering journal
articles to researchers is well served by the current system,
including the digital and online enhancements and improvements.  Those
may depends on the Internet, but they still require investments in
platforms, software and systems to make such investments useful and
operable.

I fail to understand the comment about Gold OA not involving
author-side payments-- perhaps Prof. Guédon is making the point that
in some cases funding agencies or institutions themselves pay such
charges-- or to note that in some instances the fees are waived--
which is why I use the broader "supply side" description-- to contrast
it with the "user side" which is about subscriptions/transactional
accesss (document delivery, document rental, etc).

Surveys have demonstrated that researchers at most institutions report
significant increases in access, see the 2015 "STM Report"

http://www.stm-assoc.org/2015_02_20_STM_Report_2015.pdf

which notes the increase in reading in section 2.10 (citing various
reports from Tenopir et al) and increase in access from surveys in
section 2.19 citing ARL data and related reports.  This is not to
minimize the impact of economics, budget crises of one kind or
another, etc-- but the long-term trends suggest a significant increase
in access for most.

By "fast developing countries" I mean of course countries like China
and Russia that have significant economic resources but sometimes
claim that they should be regarded as "developing" markets.

Yes of course from a business perspective I will use words like
"markets"-- I also understand that scholarlship involves communities
and networks, as noted in my first comment that is the way scholarly
publishing has to work to be successful.

Yes sadly I admit that the US changed its own copyright laws when it
decided it was a net producer of copyright content and therefore this
was in its economic self-interest.  I would have preferred a more
"natural rights" thinking, but the approach in the US and I believe
the UK is more on the economics side.

Mark

Mark Seeley, Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Elsevier