From: <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2019 09:55:53 +0000

KU spotted what they think is a gap in the market and are launching a
product to fill it. If they are right, and if they can provide sustainable
value, they will succeed. If not, they will fail. As Open Book Publishers
says, KU is perfectly within their rights to aggregate OA books into this
product. After all, that is what a CC-BY licence allows (and one could
argue is designed to do: encourage other parties to build on and add value
to the content). Where it gets a murky is the way KU has announced their
service. In saying they are “working with” OA book publishers an impression
is created that they are working in partnership with them all (which, to be
clear, they are not claiming), when they are not. Of course, the reaction
from OBP and others in the OA books community has made it clear that KU has
overstepped the mark and I’m sure many potential KU customers will have
taken note (not least that alternatives exist).

The central point, to my mind, is that KU, a for-profit entity, has rubbed
up against those in the OA movement who are community-spirited. I don’t see
anything here that is ‘serious’, just two cultures bumping up against one
another. The row will have no impact on the market for or development of OA
books. KU have had their fingers tinged by the reaction to their
announcement and I’m sure their reputation will have taken a hit. Time will
tell if the reaction has kiboshed this particular product.

There are two lessons here.

1. If you put your content out using CC-BY, it can be re-cycled and
re-packaged; it might be bundled into services you do not like by entities
that you do not like. It might be bundled into products that are low
quality (something that once happened to a CC-BY title I published). The
bottom line: when using CC-BY you lose control of your content and your
reputation may be at risk. *Caveat operante*.

2. If you are clumsy in how you re-bundle CC-BY content, don’t be surprised
when you get shouted at. *Caveat metentis*.

(Latin, which is probably wrong, courtesy of Google translate . . .
Operante = producer; metentis = harvester)



Toby Green
Public Affairs and Communications Directorate
OECD
+33 (0)610114989

On 9 Jun 2019, at 19:25, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Danny Kingsley <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2019 10:33:39 +1000

Coming late to this. It appears to be quite a serious situation. Open Book
Publishers are quite clear in that blog that they consider some of the
behaviour of Knowledge Unlatched to be poor.

Do others have opinions on Open Research Library?

Danny

Dr Danny Kingsley
Scholarly Communication Consultant
17 Eureka St
Kelvin Grove QLD 4059
e: [log in to unmask]
m: +61 (0)480 115 937
t:@dannykay68
o: 0000-0002-3636-5939

On 22 May 2019, at 11:36, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Tue, 21 May 2019 21:05:41 -0400

Of possible interest:

"On 16 May 2019, Knowledge Unlatched announced the beta launch of a new
hosting platform for Open Access books, the Open Research Library (ORL).
Our books are a prominent part of this nascent project, both on the website
and in the marketing associated with the launch
<https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=9943e393-c558aa1b-9943c850-002590f45c88-41ef44da58e06a2f&q=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Feur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fpublishingperspectives.com%252F2019%252F05%252Fsven-fund-knowledge-unlatched-open-research-library-open-access-2019%252F%26data%3D02%257C01%257CToby.GREEN%2540OECD.ORG%257Cd47038b7d79d49f18c8d08d6ecff6a28%257Cac41c7d41f61460db0f4fc925a2b471c%257C0%257C0%257C636956979081975234%26sdata%3DCr4IkEJDUwXHZV5sC78xb2IuK8jJQX2H8gwFHXQIWm8%253D%26reserved%3D0>,
and this, together with Knowledge Unlatched’s claim that they are ‘working
with publishers and libraries worldwide’
<https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=2906cf26-751d86ae-2906e4e5-002590f45c88-6de4306814013163&q=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Feur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fknowledgeunlatched.org%252F2019%252F05%252Fknowledge-unlatched-and-partners-launch-open-research-library%252F%26data%3D02%257C01%257CToby.GREEN%2540OECD.ORG%257Cd47038b7d79d49f18c8d08d6ecff6a28%257Cac41c7d41f61460db0f4fc925a2b471c%257C0%257C0%257C636956979081975234%26sdata%3DlBULc1hfhRSecYu2Fdhcg6OgRG3Kvq3ZBHiar7cvt58%253D%26reserved%3D0>,
might give the impression that we are actively participating in and
endorsing the platform. However this is not the case: we were not informed
or consulted about this project at any stage; we were not told that our
books would feature on this platform; and we do not support ORL. In fact we
have grave concerns about its approach and business model, and those of
Knowledge Unlatched (KU), which we will set out here."

Full posting at:

http://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/open-book-publishers-statement-on-knowledge-unlatched-and-the-open-research-library/
<https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=adeb9234-f1f0dbbc-adebb9f7-002590f45c88-80cf24d916281344&q=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Feur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fblogs.openbookpublishers.com%252Fopen-book-publishers-statement-on-knowledge-unlatched-and-the-open-research-library%252F%26data%3D02%257C01%257CToby.GREEN%2540OECD.ORG%257Cd47038b7d79d49f18c8d08d6ecff6a28%257Cac41c7d41f61460db0f4fc925a2b471c%257C0%257C0%257C636956979081985231%26sdata%3DjC1EKLdvZHre85SNguovVW3vUEKRYLRgDKNxduYKk5I%253D%26reserved%3D0>