Call for copyright to move with the times－from research professional

Call for copyright to move with the times

Academics want EU-wide permission to mine data

Special provisions are urgently needed to stop copyright laws from hampering research activities, according to universities, libraries and funders.

Academic institutions say their staff must be free to carry out text and data mining, which involve using computer programmes to trawl through and analyse vast amounts of information from scientific papers. Such use is restricted by EU copyright legislation, but that could be about to change as the European Commission has launched a consultation to review the laws.

In consultation responses seen by Research Europe, several groups are calling for EU-wide exemptions to copyright for research purposes, on the basis that the regulations are stifling scientific and economic competitiveness. “We are very worried about this,” says Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities.

Interest in computer-based mining techniques is growing among researchers as the volume of papers accessible online increases and better analytical technologies become available. But the respondents say that EU copyright laws have not kept up with this trend.

“Activities such as text and data mining are being hindered by a copyright framework that was not designed for the digital environment,” says the Association of European Research Libraries. “It is imperative that the framework is adapted to ensure that European innovation is competitive.”

The EU copyright directive allows member states to choose whether or not to implement a limit on non-commercial scientific research, meaning that laws vary widely. Many scientific publishers block the use of computer programmes for mining but grant permission on a case-by-case basis to academics who subscribe to their journals.

“What we really want is a clear, indisputable exemption for academic research, so there can be no discussion in the 28 member states or among different commercial players,” says Deketelaere.

“We think that content that people have already paid for should be free to read by computers as well as to read by eye,” says David Carr, a policy adviser at the Wellcome Trust, a UK-based medical research charity. The trust estimates that, under a licensing approach, a researcher wishing to mine 8,000 articles could spend up to 60 per cent of a working year—at a cost of €22,000—gaining permission from the articles’ publishers. “If researchers have to negotiate access to content on a journal-by-journal basis, it rapidly becomes unworkable,” says Carr.

Scientific groups are concerned that the Commission may only be considering a revision of the licensing procedures for text and data mining, rather than a fundamental law change. However, Pierre Delsaux, deputy director-general at the Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services, which oversees the consultation, refutes the idea that the outcome of the review is predetermined. “We have held the consultation to have a real debate,” he says, adding that the ability of the creative industries, including publishing, to remain economically viable must be taken into account.

In response to researchers’ demands, some publishers have started to make concessions. In January, Elsevier announced plans to allow text mining by subscribers on its ScienceDirect database. But the system contains restrictions on the amount of text that can be published, which some researchers object to.

The consultation was due to close on 5 March and the Commission intends to produce a white paper based on the outcome, after which it will begin discussions on future legislation. “Whatever we propose will be very difficult to negotiate,” says Delsaux. “There are a lot of interests at stake and it will be a lengthy process.”

But Deketelaere warns that if no exemption is made for academic research, this will be “the beginning of the war” between publishers and universities. “Everything up until now on open access is peanuts compared with this,” he says.

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