Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 15:50:07 -0700
Stewart Manley of the law faculty at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur has an interesting new article in Learned Publishing: "On the limitations of recent lawsuits against Sci-Hub, OMICS, ResearchGate, and Georgia State University," doi: 10.1002/leap.1254 (probably paywalled for many). He assesses the effect on real world behavior of recent lawsuits advanced and won against institutions pressing forward with open access strategies by major publishers. He gives these "key points":
- The 2017 Sci-Hub judgment has, to date, proven unenforceable, and it appears that enforcing the 2019 OMICS judgment will similarly prove challenging.
- Business developments and changing expectations over sharing digital content may also undermine the impact of the ongoing cases against ResearchGate and Georgia State University.
- Stakeholders should consider these limitations when deciding how to resolve scholarly publishing disputes.
It's not unprecedented that attempts at definitive action/direction through political/legal institutions may be rendered irrelevant by adjustments in the behavior of stakeholders pursuing their own interests. In this case it makes the author optimistic that moves toward open access will in fact prevail in spite of legal defeats or restrictions.
Jim O'Donnell
ASU