From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
FAIR COPYRIGHT IN RESEARCH WORKS ACT NIH Public Access Policy
Legislation History The NIH Public Access Policy applies Division G, Title II,
Bill Name H.R. 801 Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2008). which states:
Alternate Conyer’s Bill
"The Director of the National Institutes of
names
Health shall require that all investigators
Submitted to United States 111th Congress funded by the NIH submit or have submitted
Published on February 3, 2009
for
Introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI14) them to the National Library of Medicine’s
PubMed Central an electronic version of their
Committee Assignments
final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon
Committee House Committee on the Judiciary acceptance
Sub- Subcommittee on Courts and Competition
for publication, to be made publicly available
committee Policy
no later than 12 months after the official date
Status of publication: Provided, that the NIH shall
Pending
implement the public access policy in a
Related Legislation manner consistent with copyright law."[2]
H.R. 6845 Applicability
The work must be:
The “Fair Copyright in Research Works Act” (Bill H.R 801 1. Peer reviewed[3]
IH, also known as the “Conyer’s Bill”) was submitted as a 2. Published or approved for publication by a journal
direct response to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on or after April 7, 2008[4]
Public Access Policy; intending to reverse it. 3. "And, arises from:
The bill’s alternate name relates it to U.S Representa- • Any direct funding from an NIH grant or
tive John Conyers (D-MI), who introduced it at the 111th cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year
United States Congress on February 3, 2009.[1] 2008 or beyond, or;
The initiative of the bill is to amend Title 17 of the • Any direct funding from an NIH contract
United States Code with respect to works associated with signed on or after April 7, 2008, or;
specific funding agreements. It would ultimately prohibit • Any direct funding from the NIH Intramural
federal agencies from placing any conditions for copy- Program, or;
right transfer on funding agreements; effectively making • An NIH employee"[5]
the current NIH policy illegal.
Compliance
The NIH requests that the manuscript be submitted cor-
Background rectly and that they be granted copyright permission to
make it publicly accessible[6]
Related statutory laws and policies Publishers who would like to generate a profit from
their research or sustain a scholarly society, may note
Title 17 of the United States Code that “public access” only takes place 12 months after
Title 17 of the United States Code is the title that outlines publication, and the work is the final draft author has
United States copyright law. Sections 106 −on the exclu- provided.[7]
sive rights in copyrighted works− and 201 −on copyright
ownership and transfer of ownership− are both refer-
enced in H.R.801. The amendment it proposes would be
The proposed statute
in reference to funding agreements in the scope of those H.R.801: The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
segment of the the title. would, specifically, amend Sections 201 (d) and (e) of Ti-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
tle 17 of the United States Code− which pertain to the Process
transfer of copyright ownership.
• Report to Congressional Committees shall be made
The code would be amended by way of adding limita-
no later than 5 years after the date the act is ratified.
tions on the Federal Government, with regard to funding
• After conducting the necessary research, the
agreements− i.e. "a contract, grant, or other agreement
Register of Copyrights will
entered into between a Federal agency and any person
"review and submit to the appropriate
under which funds are provided by a Federal agency, in
congressional committees a report on [its]
whole or in part, for the performance of experimental,
views on section 201(f) of title 17, United
developmental, or research activities"− on extrinsic
States Code,
works−i.e. "any work, other than a work of the United
States Government, that is based upon, derived from, or as added by subsection (a) of this section,
related to, a funding agreement" which represents or taking into account the development of and
stems from the value or process of one or more non-fed- access to extrinsic works and materials
eral and non-party affiliated entities− who have "funded developed
[it] in substantial part".[8]
The bill states that: under funding agreements, including the role
1. On the transfer of copyright ownership: played by publishers in the private sector and
• The exclusive rights granted by sections 106 others"[13]
(3), (4), and (5) of the code, would be set as
reasons to prohibit Federal agencies from
imposing terms or conditions that demand any
H.R.801’s legislative history
such transfer. As of March 16, 2009 H.R.801 has been referred to the
• The rights outlined in section 106 (1) and (2), in House Committee on the Judiciary, which has in turn re-
an extrinsic work, would also keep them from ferred it to the Subcommittee on Courts and Competition
setting stipulations of the like “to the extent Policy.[14]
that, the [rights involve] the availability to the This bill has not become law. Sessions of Congress last
public of that work” two years, at the end of which all proposed bills and reso-
• Any terms requiring "the absence or lutions that have not been passed are removed. Members
abandonment of any right described in may and often do reintroduce bills that did not come up
subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) in an extrinsic for debate.[15]
work" are also disallowed.[9] An exact replica of this bill (H.R. 6845.IH) was first in-
troduced in the 110th Congress, where it died.[16]
2. Federal agencies are also prohibited from imposing
or facilitating terms that may result in the approval or
waiver of any of the previously stated bans, for a funding Reception
agreement[10]
3. Federal agencies may not apply any of the rights Initial reactions
granted by Title 17 in an extrinsic work, to material de- The bill is has been the topic of numerous articles, in on-
veloped under a funding agreement that may "restrain or line civic and scholarly publications. Its supporters are
limit the acquisition or exercise of [said rights]"[11] predominantly scientific research associations and pub-
lishing houses, while the opposition mostly consists of Li-
Provisions of the bill brary Associations[17][18]
Support
Conditions
Groups, including the Association of American Publishers
The law would only be applicable in the event that:
(AAP), support Conyer’s bill, as they feel that the NIH Pol-
• It is not interpreted in a way that compromises "the
icy "infringes on their business rights, insofar as it grants
rights provided to the copyright owner under
the public a right to this publicly funded work".[19] In De-
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 106"
cember 2008, the AAP contacted President Barack Obama
• "No new copyright material is created" − i.e.
voicing concerns that “the NIH mandate severely dimin-
"nothing in this subsection provides copyright
ishes both the market and copyright protection for these
protection to any subject matter that is not
copyrighted works to which not-for-profit and commer-
protected under section 102"
cial publishers have made significant value-added contri-
• The funding agreement requiring its application has
butions”.[20]
been "entered into on or after the date of the
enactment of this act"[12]
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
Criticism [8] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
One of the concerns regarding this bill is the possibility
z?c111:H.R.801:.
that average Americans will lose access to medical re-
[9] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
search, that the NIH Public Access Policy grants them.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
The American Research Libraries, the Alliance for Tax-
z?c111:H.R.801:.
payer Access,[21] and a coalition of patients’ rights orga-
[10] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
nizations, are among numerous critics of the act.[22] Aca-
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
demic institutions including Harvard University, Cornell
z?c111:H.R.801:.
University,[23] and Earlham College are openly support-
[11] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
ing the NIH Public Access Policy and opposing Conyer’s
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
Bill along with their respective libraries, also stressing
z?c111:H.R.801:.
the importance of public access to biomedical research
[12] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
and results.[24] Cornell University claims to be affected as
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
the NIH is one fo the components of the Department of
z?c111:H.R.801:.
Health and Human Services (DHHS), "the largest funder
[13] "The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
of research at Cornell. According to the Office of the Vice
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
Provost of Research, the DHHS accounted for more than
z?c111:H.R.801:.
50 percent of federally sponsored research — or over
[14] "govtrack.us- H.R. 801: Fair Copyright in Research
$190 million per fiscal year — in both 2007 and 2008".
Works Act". Civic Impulse, LLC.
Their Libraries view the bill as a threat to the "state-
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/
of-the-art digital repository where research can be pre-
bill.xpd?bill=h111-801.
served," that the policy provides and a potential loss of
[15] "H.R. 801: Fair Copyright in Research Works".
acquired research due to the bill’s prohibition of copy-
govtrack.us. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/
right transfer from author to publisher.[25]
bill.xpd?bill=h111-801.
[16] "H.R.801 - Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
References Open Congress. http://www.opencongress.org/
bill/111-h801/show.
[1] "Bill Text 111th Congress (2009-2010) H.R.801.IH".
[17] "H.R. 801: Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
The Library of Congress. http://thomas.loc.gov/
govtrack.us. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/
cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.801:.
bill.xpd?bill=h111-801.
[2] "NIH Public Access Policy". National Health
[18] "H.R.801 - Fair Copyright in Research Works Act".
Institute. http://publicaccess.nih.gov/index.htm.
Open Congress. http://www.opencongress.org/
[3] "Public Access Policy". Determining applicability.
bill/111-h801/show.
National Health Institute.
[19] Willinsky, John. "A (Publishing) House Divided:
http://publicaccess.nih.gov/
Scholarly Publishers in Support and Opposition to
determine_applicability.htm.
Public Access to Research". Slaw.
[4] "Public Access Policy". Determining applicability.
http://www.slaw.ca/2009/03/18/a-publishing-
National Health Institute.
house-divided-scholarly-publishers-in-support-
http://publicaccess.nih.gov/
and-opposition-to-public-access-to-research/.
determine_applicability.htm.
[20] Willinsky, John. "A (Publishing) House Divided:
[5] "Public Access Policy". Determining applicability.
Scholarly Publishers in Support and Opposition to
National Health Institute.
Public Access to Research". Slaw.
http://publicaccess.nih.gov/
http://www.slaw.ca/2009/03/18/a-publishing-
determine_applicability.htm.
house-divided-scholarly-publishers-in-support-
[6] "Complying with the NIH Public Access Policy -
and-opposition-to-public-access-to-research/.
Copyright Considerations and Options". The
[21] "Who Opposes the Fair Copyright in Research
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources
Works Act". The Alliance for Taxpayer Access.
Coalition. http://www.arl.org/sparc/advocacy/
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/issues/fcrwa/
nih/copyright.shtml.
index.shtml.
[7] Willinsky, John. "A (Publishing) House Divided:
[22] Wojcicki, Esther. "Bill Before Congress May Close
Scholarly Publishers in Support and Opposition to
Medical Research to Average American". The
Public Access to Research". Slaw.
Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://www.slaw.ca/2009/03/18/a-publishing-
esther-wojcicki/bill-before-congress-
house-divided-scholarly-publishers-in-support-
may_b_169793.html.
and-opposition-to-public-access-to-research/.
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
[23] "Cornell Librarians Protest Bill Closing Access to • United States House of Representatives- Committee
NIH Research". Cornell University. on the Judiciary
http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/ • Cornell University law School- Legal Information
2009/03/30/cornell-librarians-protest-bill-closing- Institute (Title 17)
access-nih-research. • Cornell University law School- Legal Information
[24] "Harvard’s letter opposing the Conyers bill". Institute (Title 17- section 106)
Earlham College. http://www.earlham.edu/ • Cornell University law School- Legal Information
~peters/fos/2009/04/harvard-letter-opposing- Institute (Title 17- section 201)
conyers-bill.html. • Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008
[25] "Cornell Librarians Protest Bill Closing Access to • The Library of Congress (congress 110- Bill H.R.6845)
NIH Research". Cornell University.
http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/
2009/03/30/cornell-librarians-protest-bill-closing-
See also
access-nih-research. National Institute of Health
United States Department of Health and Human Ser-
vices
External links Association of American Publishers
• The Library of Congress (congress 111- Bill H.R.801 Title 17 of the United States Code
• The Alliance for Taxpayer Access- issues House Committee on the Judiciary
• Inside Higher Ed- Split Over Open Access 111th United States Congress
• The National Institute of Health Public Access John Conyers
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/in-
dex.php?title=Fair_Copyright_in_Research_Works_Act&oldid=451998462"
Categories:
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• United States proposed federal legislation
• United States intellectual property law
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