Name: Open Access Must Be the Rule, Not the Exception
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Open Access Must Be the Rule, Not the Exception

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Email updates on news, actions,and events in your area.DEEPLINKS BLOGShare ItThe COVID-19 pandemic demands that governments, scientific researchers, and industry work together to bring life-saving technology to the public regardless of who can afford it. But even as we take steps to make medical technology and treatments available to everyone, we shouldn’t forget that more crises will come after COVID-19. There will be future public health disasters; in fact, . As climate change continues to threaten human life, there will be other kind of disasters too. A patch for the current crisis is not enough; we need a fundamental change in how scientific research is funded, published, and licensed. As we celebrate , let’s remember that open access must be the rule, not the exception.about the , a promise that a company can make not to assert its patents or copyrights against anyone helping to fight COVID-19. Companies that take the pledge agree to license their patents and/or copyrights under a “diagnosing, preventing, containing, and treating COVID-19.” When we last wrote about the Open COVID Pledge, it had just been introduced and had only a few adopters—most notably, tech giant Intel. Since then, many big tech companies have taken the pledge, including Facebook, Uber, Amazon, and Microsoft. And the list of on the Open COVID Pledge website continues to grow.While EFF applauds those companies for recognizing the urgency of the moment, open licenses and pledges are only the beginning of the discussion about how we can remove legal obstacles to sharing urgently needed innovation. , one way is to harness the power of existing patent law. There’s a provision that lets the US government use or authorize others to use any invention “described in and covered by a patent of the United States” in exchange for reasonable compensation. In other words, the government could license itself or others to use any patented technology to diagnose, treat, or stop the spread of COVID-19. (If a patent-owner wanted to sue for infringement, it would sue the United States, not the licensee.) , with no need to get a bill through legislative gridlock.But that’s not enough either. Rising to the many challenges facing society today requires going to the source—how scientific research is funded and published as well as the . The good news is that the open access community has made progress. Although , current Executive Branch policies require that federally funded scientific research be made available to the public no later than a year after publication in a scientific journal.Of course, a year is a very long time: think back to where the world was a year ago and ask yourself if all of the last year’s research should be locked behind a paywall. (Fortunately, major publishers have done the right thing and .)Unfortunately, while it’s now possible for anyone to read most government-funded scientific research, that same body of research can become fuel for . Take the , which sued numerous companies for infringement of its . My Health’s patent didn’t originate at a private company; a university applied for and got it years earlier. This is a : due to academia’s embrace of ever more aggressive patenting and licensing practices, patents that emerge out of scientific research create obstacles for the public, thus undermining the point of having strong open access policies in the first place.That’s why EFF has urged research universities to adopt policies . It’s also why we’ve urged the government to when reviewing licenses for inventions that arise from government-funded research. There is simply no place for patent trolls in government-funded research.A pandemic can expose and intensify existing inequities, be it or . The COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated the urgent need for to . Scientific research that the public pays for must be made available to everyone, without a paywall, without an embargo period. At the same time, the government, private funders, and research institutions must take steps to ensure that the research they fund doesn’t become ammunition for abusive litigation. Not just for the current crisis, but for the next one too.EFF is proud to celebrate .Share ItStop us if you’ve heard these: piracy is driving artists out of business. The reason they are starving is because no one pays for things, just illegally downloads them. . These arguments are old and being to get support for rules...In response to the very real pressures that online news outlets are facing, Congress continues to believe the very flawed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) is a magic solution. It is not. In fact, it is actively dangerous. And there’s a available....Much of what we do online involves reproducing copyrightable material, changing it, and/or making new works. Technically, pretty much every original tweet is copyrightable. And the vast majority of memes are based on copyrighted works. Your funny edits, mashups, and photoshopped jokes manipulate copyrighted works into new ones. Effective communication...It often feels like machine learning experts are running around with a hammer, looking at everything as a potential nail - they have a system that does cool things and is fun to work on, and they go in search of things to use it for. But what if we...California residents finally have a law designed to dismantle some of the secrecy around domestic acquisitions of warzone surveillance equipment.The weapons of the United States military—drones, mobile command centers, sound cannons, and more—have been handed off to local law enforcement for years. The transfers have equipped police departments with the...The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued a long-awaited judgment on the compatibility of the EU Copyright Directive’s filtering requirements with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The ruling recognizes the tension between copyright filters and the right to freedom of expression, but falls...The joy of tinkering, making, and sharing is part of the human condition. In modern times, this creative freedom too often is stifled by secrecy as a means of monetization - from non-compete laws to quashing people’s right to repair the products they’ve already paid for.Adam Savage—the maker extraordinaire best...Copyright filters are having a bit of a moment in Washington D.C. The with a process to determine what, if anything, constitutes a standard technical measure (STM) that platforms would have to accommodate. And, if that proves too onerous, ...Today, EFF joins a diverse coalition of civil society and tech companies to call on Congress to pass strong anti-monopoly rules for the Internet. We do this because it has long been EFF’s belief that users have the right to make their own choices—and the current state of Big Tech...When a pipeline bursts, journalists might want to investigate whether the pipeline complied with federal regulations. When a toy is recalled, parents want to know whether its maker followed child safety rules. When a fire breaks out, homeowners and communities want to know whether the building complied with fire safety...Share It

Email updates on news, actions,and events in your area.DEEPLINKS BLOGShare ItThe COVID-19 pandemic demands that governments, scientific researchers, and industry work together to bring life-saving technology to the public regardless of who can afford it. But even as we take steps to make medical technology and treatments available to everyone, we shouldn’t forget that more crises will come after COVID-19. There will be future public health disasters; in fact, . As climate change continues to threaten human life, there will be other kind of disasters too. A patch for the current crisis is...

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Elliot Harmon

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Open Access Must Be the Rule, Not the Exception

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