Key takeaways from the discussion included: the importance of authors knowing and maintaining their rights throughout the publishing process, with Timothy reassuring tweeters that Creative Commons are developing tools to improve author empowerment; that all involved in publishing deserve clarity and transparency; and that open licensing can facilitate equality in global knowledge exchange. Above all, the enthusiastic take-up of the discussion and subsequent feedback indicated that licensing is something that the open access community is keen to continue discuss and explore. Standards, best practices, and the practical rollout of licensing can differ widely across places, individual publishers, and institutions, and the community greatly welcomed having Timothy consider both common and quirky licensing issues that individuals are often working through alone on a daily basis. OASPA’s first Twitter chat greatly extended the licensing discussion we had in our webinar with Timothy in March, and the informal, public nature of the Twitter discussion enabled a lively, honest, and hugely informative international conversation around licensing issues that we hope the open access community will continue on.
Licensing Insights: OASPA’s Twitter Chat with Timothy Vollmer
On April 27, OASPA hosted a Twitter chat with Timothy Vollmer, Public Policy Manager at Creative Commons, on licensing. The open access community and members of the public were invited to ask Timothy any questions they had on the topic, and what followed was a wide-ranging discussion in which publishers, librarians, and advocacy organisations debated the often complex issues that arise from licensing and copyright issues in open access publishing.
A full account of the discussion can be viewed on the Twitter hashtag #OASPAChat. For those looking for a summary, here’s our Storify of the discussion:
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