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Hilty, Reto --- "Copyright law and scientific research" [2007] ELECD 305; in Torremans, Paul (ed), "Copyright Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007)

Book Title: Copyright Law

Editor(s): Torremans, Paul

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845424879

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Copyright law and scientific research

Author(s): Hilty, Reto

Number of pages: 40

Extract:

13 Copyright law and scientific research
Reto Hilty 1



Introduction
Copyright is increasingly failing to fulfil its function with respect to the
creation of scientific work. The researcher is obliged to transfer his copyright
to commercial exploiters if the scientific content he has created is to be
disseminated in any way. However, this dissemination is increasingly being
effected in electronic form exclusively, leading to serious problems for scien-
tists with respect to third-party research results ­ particularly where technical
protection measures are used. This is because such protection measures
frequently concern vital information on which further research depends.
Thanks to this dependency, a number of exploiters have succeeded in impos-
ing prohibitive conditions on access and use, a constellation of facts that is
given short thrift in modern copyright law. Specifically, the EU Directive on
Copyright in the Information Society is designed one-sidedly to protect the
entertainment industry, and the European legislature is thus thwarting the
efforts to make Europe the leading centre for research. The present chapter
shows where the individual problems are and what corrections are urgently
necessary in European law.

1. The problem
Only a few years ago, it would have been presumptuous to describe copyright
and scientists as being in a relationship of tension. The scientific research
results are protected by copyright in terms of the manner in which they are
presented ­ i.e. their `form'.2 In contrast, copyright is not intended to cover

1 Director, Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and ...