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Rh tists have traditionally been satisfied with the moral right to be cited for their original work. In addition, technical inventions may also be protected by patents (with a much briefer protection period of mostly 20 years and explicit provisions for knowledge dissemination).

Unfortunately, in science and education, knowledge and data are often intermingled with copyrighted expressions of the same. Many publishers establish barriers to knowledge sharing by asserting copyright on non-copyrightable plain or formal expressions of that knowledge. In the area of biodiversity, often dealing with textually expressed data or data expressed in images, this is a major obstacle. Attempts are under way to establish special procedures to extract and disseminate the – non-copyrightable – knowledge that is included within protected works. One such procedure for textual expressions, operating under principles of Swiss law, is described in Agosti and Egloff (2009). Even more difficult is the situation for drawings, photographs or diagrams. Documentary photographs or drawings are widely granted full copyright status even if they depict entirely factual information that might not itself be copyrightable. In the case of biodiversity knowledge, where much data and knowledge is expressed in these documentary forms, this can be a substantial barrier to knowledge dissemination. Finally, copyright on diagrams may severely diminish the ability of teachers and educators to disseminate knowledge efficiently. For example, the results of publicly funded research on climate change may be published in a scientific journal that does not allow educators or teachers to re-use graphs or other materials for their teaching purposes.

Such problems could best be reduced by implementing appropriate restrictions to copyright protection or by establishing legal licenses for the use of works that serve primarily as expressions of knowledge (including diagrams or documentary photography) for educational or research purposes. Unfortunately, such restrictions can only be introduced by legislative acts and depend therefore on political bargaining.

Open

Fortunately, many individuals and organizations in the scientific field, while legally entitled to complete and century-long copyright control, see advantages in less restrictive terms-of-use. In contrast to cultural works, the primary intent of scientific works is most often the dissemination of knowledge. Increasing this dissemination may thus be a principal goal. Alternatively, it may be seen a secondary goal because it improves the researchers’ reputation and the brand recognition of their institutions or research areas – factors that influence future chances of obtaining research funds.

Furthermore, society often funds research to foster innovation and the general welfare, or to address problems of critical societal interest such as climate change. The vast majority of costs for such research are paid up-front by research grants or institutional funds. Trying to generate relatively minute additional income by preventing public access to the results of publicly funded research is considered inappropriate by many.

One approach to increasing dissemination and public access is found in the Open Access (OA) movement, which aims to provide readers with free and unrestricted access to