[Buddha-l] Useful for Enlightenment?

[Alberto Todeschini]

Franz Metcalf wrote:

"By contrast, I just had the discouraging experience of wanting to
recommend a chapter I wrote some years ago to a teacher of an
introduction to Buddhism course. But that chapter is not free. It is
bound into the paper chains of a book that no one wants to buy. I
*have* the pdf on my computer, but do not believe I can legally share
it (certainly not with a class of students, anyway). They are left to
the wilds of the internet and my information rots in its pulpy prison."

Hi Franz,

I mentioned that recently a copyright lawyer came to give a talk here at 
UVa. She said that authors routinely fail to pay enough attention to the 
paperwork they sign when they publish something thereby essentially 
giving up all and every right they have to their own work. Your case 
sounds perfectly common.

For-profit publishers (with some exceptions) by default ask for complete 
ownership of what they publish, so it's better to be careful.

The lawyer also mentioned that frequently the terms are negotiable, 
hence there is something we can do about it.

In case you don't know, academic publishing companies with deep pockets 
have been lobbying hard governments in the US and EU to maintain the 
status quo against open access.

I have already expressed my appreciation of some open access journals 
but it is worth mentioning that I'm also greatly supportive of people 
like Richard Hayes and Jamie Hubbard who have put/will put their 
articles on the net making them available to all.

Anyway, and to conclude on a possibly Buddhist-sounding note, knowledge 
can be liberating, that is, by educating ourselves and our colleagues 
and following that knowledge with the appropriate choices we can and 
should try to improve the situation.

Best,

Alberto Todeschini