By Elise Brege
It’s the season for bright red, orange, and yellow leaves; the smell of pumpkin spice; and spooky, fun traditions like trick or treating, and even publishing communities are getting into the October spirit.
From October 20-26th, the academic and research publishing communities are celebrating their eighth annual global event called Open Access Week. By sharing what they have learned about Open Access benefits, data, and practices with their colleagues, the communities’ goal is to promote the dissemination of scholarly and research information through the use of an Open Access network. What a treat!
And just like Halloween costumed children eagerly ringing doorbells for candy, general public audiences have been eagerly supporting the ability to freely and immediately access scholarly information, academic research, and other digital content with an Open Access network.
Scholarly and research communities agree with their audiences and encourage them to support Open Access publishing strategies because these communities believe sharing this information has the ability to augment research investments, increase the dissemination and application of published research, cultivate the ability to create, conduct, reference, and inspire research, and promote academic advancement.
Statistical growth and successes, documented by Heather Morrison, support these communities’ Open Access theories. Morrison’s “Dramatic Growth of Open Access September 30, 2014” states there are “more than 10,000 fully open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the world; 50,000 free-to read journals of academic interest; and substantial annual growth rates or 13% to 40% for publishers utilizing aspects of Open Access.” [1]
Open Access business models are not accepted or implemented by all publishing communities, though. Publishing companies have adopted certain features like Digital Rights Management in order to regulate digital content after a purchase. DRM often controls viewing, altering, copying, and printing as a prevention method against non-paying customers. The strict regulation usually frustrates paying customers and does not securely guard against non-paying audiences interested in the protected content.
In the spirit of Halloween, if audiences are not treated with this information, they resort to tricks. Piracy websites and hacking DRM codes are often prevalent. Hana Beshara’s NinjaVideo piracy website is perfect example. Beshara was imprisoned for 16 months for her piracy of DRM content, but claims she does not believe she did anything wrong by making content readily available on her website. In “Digital Piracy now about access more than cost, says New York Times”, Chris Meadow’s references the informational age and the new feelings of entitlement for accessible information. He argues “the popularity of piracy has nothing to do with cost—it’s all about access. […] People want access to everything, anytime, [anywhere], and there is little to stop them from having it.” [2]
The season’s trick or treat spirit seems to perfectly embody the conflict between DRM and Open Access publishing strategies, as well as the sharing in the upcoming Open Access week. I hope my readers enjoy the seasonal fun, and that the publishing industry continues to find the right balance or best practices for their publishing strategies.
References:
[1]. See http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2014/10/dramatic-growth-of-open-access.html
[2] See http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/digital-piracy-now-about-access-more-than-cost-says-new-york-times/
3. http://www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/openaccessweek
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/technology/the-unrepentant-bootlegger.html
It’s the season for bright red, orange, and yellow leaves; the smell of pumpkin spice; and spooky, fun traditions like trick or treating, and even publishing communities are getting into the October spirit.
From October 20-26th, the academic and research publishing communities are celebrating their eighth annual global event called Open Access Week. By sharing what they have learned about Open Access benefits, data, and practices with their colleagues, the communities’ goal is to promote the dissemination of scholarly and research information through the use of an Open Access network. What a treat!
And just like Halloween costumed children eagerly ringing doorbells for candy, general public audiences have been eagerly supporting the ability to freely and immediately access scholarly information, academic research, and other digital content with an Open Access network.
Scholarly and research communities agree with their audiences and encourage them to support Open Access publishing strategies because these communities believe sharing this information has the ability to augment research investments, increase the dissemination and application of published research, cultivate the ability to create, conduct, reference, and inspire research, and promote academic advancement.
Statistical growth and successes, documented by Heather Morrison, support these communities’ Open Access theories. Morrison’s “Dramatic Growth of Open Access September 30, 2014” states there are “more than 10,000 fully open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the world; 50,000 free-to read journals of academic interest; and substantial annual growth rates or 13% to 40% for publishers utilizing aspects of Open Access.” [1]
Open Access business models are not accepted or implemented by all publishing communities, though. Publishing companies have adopted certain features like Digital Rights Management in order to regulate digital content after a purchase. DRM often controls viewing, altering, copying, and printing as a prevention method against non-paying customers. The strict regulation usually frustrates paying customers and does not securely guard against non-paying audiences interested in the protected content.
In the spirit of Halloween, if audiences are not treated with this information, they resort to tricks. Piracy websites and hacking DRM codes are often prevalent. Hana Beshara’s NinjaVideo piracy website is perfect example. Beshara was imprisoned for 16 months for her piracy of DRM content, but claims she does not believe she did anything wrong by making content readily available on her website. In “Digital Piracy now about access more than cost, says New York Times”, Chris Meadow’s references the informational age and the new feelings of entitlement for accessible information. He argues “the popularity of piracy has nothing to do with cost—it’s all about access. […] People want access to everything, anytime, [anywhere], and there is little to stop them from having it.” [2]
The season’s trick or treat spirit seems to perfectly embody the conflict between DRM and Open Access publishing strategies, as well as the sharing in the upcoming Open Access week. I hope my readers enjoy the seasonal fun, and that the publishing industry continues to find the right balance or best practices for their publishing strategies.
References:
[1]. See http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com/2014/10/dramatic-growth-of-open-access.html
[2] See http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/digital-piracy-now-about-access-more-than-cost-says-new-york-times/
3. http://www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/openaccessweek
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/technology/the-unrepentant-bootlegger.html