Dissemination of knowledge and copyright: an historical case study
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-06-2013-0018 |
| Published date | 12 August 2013 |
| Pages | 144-155 |
| Date | 12 August 2013 |
| Author | Tony Volpe,Joachim Schopfel |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance |
Dissemination of knowledge and
copyright: an historical case study
Tony Volpe
University of Aix-Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, France, and
Joachim Schopfel
University of Lille III, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France
Abstract
Purpose – Does copyright protection reduce or foster intellectual and industrial creation? Based on a
case study from history of science, the aim is to provide more controversial evidence to this debate.
Design/methodology/approach – The investigation used primary and secondary sources from the
history of science and made the link to the actual debate on copyright, piracy and scientific
communication.
Findings – The paper describes how Elzevier, through non-authorized exploitation of a new product
and withoutconsideration of the editor’s legitimateinterests, in a context of missing copyrightprotection,
largelycontributed to the disseminationof the French Journal de Savants and its content,and finally to the
success of scientific journals. Obviously, rights infringement can not only promote the interest and
objectiveof the rights holder but also and above all contributeto the emergence and development ofnew
forms of scientificlife. Sometimes, when barriers to communicationand debate are too strong, tolerated
and calculated infringementmay be an option to move the lines/change the situation.
Research limitations/implications – In the post-Gutenberg galaxy, made up of open access,
common goods and public domain, open data and e-Science, evaluation, innovation,
sustainability, communication and sharing, copyright is not necessarily the (only) option to develop
scientific communication. At least, the authors have to study lessons from academic publishing,
copyright protection and piracy very carefully.
Originality/value – The paper sheds light on a surprising and not very well-known part of the
history of academic publishing.
Keywords Intellectualproperty, Privacy, Copyright, Academicpublishing, Journal,
Scientific communication
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Registration, certification, dissemination, and archiving: since the conception of
Oldenburg’s Philosophical Transactions, publishers and authors share a common set of
convictions on the main functions of a scientific journal.
A scientific journal should act as a public register of intellectual property, brand
(or label) articles and create visibility, serve the transmission of scientific information,
and help keeping a record of science (Gue
´don, 2001, pp. 15-18).
Of course, other features contribute to academic publishing, especially
psychological drivers and human factors such as “ego, vanity, recognition, reward
and immortality” (Mabe, 2009, p. 3), social and societal aspects, politics, and strategic
considerations (Roosendaal et al., 2010, pp. 19-36). Evaluation becomes a core fun ction
of scientific journal publishing.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
Acknowledgments to Susan Kovacs and Simon Linacre for their helpful advice.
Received 11 July 2013
Revised 5 September 2013
Accepted 20 September 2013
Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society
Vol. 11 No. 3, 2013
pp. 144-155
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-06-2013-0018
JICES
11,3
144
To continue reading
Request your trial