Scientific Knowledge and the Delhi University Copy Shop
The ninth area is scientific knowledge, by which I mean modern scholarly publishing in journals. Most of my effort in 2017 had been spent on barriers to access to scientific knowledge, specifically journal articles issued by U.S. employees or officers in the course of their official duties that were being illegally sequestered by publishers behind a paywall.
My original plan of action had been to do the analysis of that problem, bring my findings into the American Bar Association for either a yeah or neah vote, then send out notifications by certified mail to several dozen publishers and several dozen agencies. The letters would put the publishers on notice that they had a problem and ask for comments within 60 days.
The question in my mind had been, “what then?” When I send a letter about inappropriate assertions of copyright over public domain works, I don’t ask for permission to publish. If a work is in fact in the public domain, I don’t need permission. I also make it clear that I am in possession of a copy of the works in question, otherwise it is simply a theoretical issue. I ask for comments, though I rarely get comments back. The question at that point is should the article be posted?
I know from the experiences of Alexandra Elbakyan with Sci-Hub and Aaron Swartz with JSTOR how viciously brutal the publishers can be when they think their financial interests are being threatened. I don’t believe the publishers would blink an eye even if I brought valid points to the table about works of government. They do what the standards people have done and come in with all their guns blazing. I’m definitely going to send out those notices to publishers because I believe they have misappropriated public property, but I’ve been looking for other paths less crooked that would lead more directly up to that shining library on the hill.
There was a similar situation in India, the famous Delhi University copy shop case, which may be that path. Delhi University had a small, privately-run copy shop on premises. Professors would come in with a list of journal articles, the shop would go to the library and get copies, then assemble course packs for students and sell them at a modest rate. The Rameshwari Photocopy Shop was sued by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Taylor & Francis. The shop was raided by armed police. The owner told The Wire “It was shocking—I felt like a criminal.”
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