For several years, is an intense discussion about it. We are on the way in which knowledge and information society. Information and knowledge has never been so important as in today's society. With this growing importance of information including the access and accessibility of information is important. Information is increasingly becoming a commodity. The more important the information and the exclusive access, the higher the price. This development can just sing a song university libraries. The rising prices of journals and the budgets of the libraries can not keep up.
Research results are just for publishers and magazines are an important source of revenue – on the other side of survival, especially for young scientists publications in those same magazines. In many places this leads to some absurd situations. As for example, research results, funded by public money, selling expensive to specialist publishers. The uni-own library then buys the published Results in the form of a magazine again funded – again from public funds. The term Open Access is now debating whether research that is publicly funded, the results should not be publicly available. In this context, also the copyright law – to change – especially for professors. This should be required to first offer of its own research university. This approach looks promising at first glance, but ultimately serves currently on patentability.
The university will decide whether and how to use the research findings and ultimately make money. Publicly available here yet. Many things are already regulated in this sense in the Employee Invention Act. These arrangements will now be discussed also for the copyright. It remains a long way to Open Access. And perhaps this is also an idealistic pipe dream. Given limited funds, many externally funded projects, where research funding is often mixed and from the clients of the economy to an open access of the results certainly have no interest. Patents and Access Closed often impede further safeguard, on the other, but also the survival of the patent holder. Global is seen the current development but also a strengthening of the position of the rich countries and the consequent exclusion as third world countries from further development.. Steve Case: the source for more info.