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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>TDWG is about making data interoperable,
thus leading, in the best case, to a seamless system of our knowledge linked to
those of other domains.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>This is a huge technical challenge, but by
getting closer to technical solutions, other issues become relevant, such as
who is generating content, how is content acknowledged and how is copyright and
IPR handled.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>This is especially important, since we now
face for the first time a system, which aims at being the mother of all the
biodiversity information, the Encyclopedia of Life which is playing the same
game as the publishers of our scientific knowledge. Being corporate, they care
about the copyright and IPR, and thus send out forms to transfer your rights to
them. These are individual licenses which often lead to the situation, that you
loose all rights, and thus we can not access our publications in an open way,
be it as open access or via self archiving.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Our community has to be more vigilant the
way we operate in this realm. We need to define what we want, and act
accordingly. If we want to be able to have open access to our data, we should
not sign contract which do not allow this. We have to negotiate individually
and through whatever channels we have, such as our societies, that we only
provide the publishers the right of the article for the specific publication
they do, but that you can at least self archive or deposit the publications in
thematic repositories, such as could be Zoobank.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Regarding access to databases, we have to
be clear when we sign contracts like a Creative Commons license with institutions
like EOL. Should they have the right to develop commercial products? Should
they use a share a like license? If they want to produce commercial products,
how is assured that the revenues are shared, or do you not mind? Should we
allow individual contracts which at the end need zillions of lawyers? BHL is
spending considerable amount of time to resolve all this existing contracts, so
do all of the institutional repositories, and which seems clearly not something
we want to initiate.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Regarding participation in initiatives
which live on our data, it needs to be clear what each of the parties does. Do
you build on the assumption, that you do not mind that one party is patenting
some of the programs or should all what they do open source? For example, if
UBIO at Woods Hole is patenting their taxonomic infrastructure, can we agree to
that? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>We need a debate about this, and we should
not let EOL go ahead, especially since many of us hope that it is a step closer
to an open access infrastructure for biodiversity information. To signs right
now are that we run into a lot of troubles and unease if we continue with what
is happening right now, that is listen to the corporate lawyers and not of what
we as a community really want.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>So, before you sign any contracts, think
twice. The publishers need your content, especially if it went through peer
review. EOL needs our content, so you do not have to sign whatever you get
offered. A discussion within bodies like TDWG would be very timely and useful.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Donat <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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