This is a free online international Information Service covering various topics, including copyright, plagiarism and other IP matters, Open Access, open publishing, open learning resources, institutional repositories, scholarly communication, digitization and library matters, mobile technologies, issues affecting access to knowledge (A2K), particularly in developing countries; WTO and WIPO treaties and matters; Free Trade Agreements and TRIPS Plus; useful websites, conference alerts, etc. If you would like to subscribe to or unsubscribe from to this newsletter, please email Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za with "Subscribe to Copyright & A2K Issues" in the subject field.
Intellectual Property:
Update on South African Copyright Reform: Fair Use Provision May Be Removed: http://infojustice.org/archives/39877
Cautionary Tales About Collective Rights Organizations: http://infojustice.org/archives/39886
SAMRO to meet with government following ‘copyright fraud’ claims: http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2018/04/04/samro-to-meet-with-government-following-copyright-fraud-claims/
Samro challenged to resolve royalty issues: http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/samro-challenged-resolve-royalty-issues/
Special 301: U.S. Gov’t “Watch List” Threatens Access to Meds: http://infojustice.org/archives/39893
Statement from EU Academics on Proposed Press Publishers’ Right: http://infojustice.org/archives/39875
Access and Persons with Disabilities:
How Technology Is Changing The Way Blind People Get Visual Information [Hear and Now]: http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/04/26/blind-people-apps-technology
EIFL signs three year agreement with bookshare: http://www.eifl.net/news/eifl-signs-three-year-agreement-bookshare
Data Management:
Who should hold the keys to our data?: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/29/in-charge-our-own-data-personal-information-facebook-scandal
Open Access, A2K & Scholarly Communication:
Understand the Blockchain in Two Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r43LhSUUGTQ
Guest Post: Research Deluge — Are Researchers Writing More yet Contributing Less?: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/05/01/guest-post-research-deluge-researchers-writing-yet-contributing-less/?informz=1
Working to preserve knowledge: https://www.researchinformation.info/interview/working-preserve-knowledge
Open Access and the Archived Web - An Open Insights interview with Jane Winters: https://www.openlibhums.org/news/282/
AI Researchers Boycott Nature Machine Intelligence Journal Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine: https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/04/academia/ai-researchers-boycott-nature-machine-intelligence-journal/
Patenting Artificial Intelligence Might Hamper Progress, EFF Says: https://www.ip-watch.org/2018/02/22/patenting-artificial-intelligence-might-hamper-progress-eff-says/
The potential for altmetrics to measure other types of impact in scientific production: academic and social impact dynamics in social media and networks: http://www.informationr.net/ir/23-1/paper780.html
Public library Websites as electronic branches: a multi-country quantitative evaluation: http://www.informationr.net/ir/23-1/paper786.html
Which academic papers do researchers tend to feature on ResearchGate?: http://www.informationr.net/ir/23-1/paper785.html
University Rankings Under the Spotlight: http://www.assaf.org.za/files/Presidential%20Roundtable/Website-%20Unversity%20Rankings%20Under%20the%20Spotlight.pdf
Open access is the future – Springer Nature survey: https://www.researchinformation.info/news/open-access-future-%E2%80%93-springer-nature-survey
The holy grail of Open Access: sharing that benefits authors: https://medium.com/flockademic/the-holy-grail-in-open-access-sharing-that-benefits-authors-b685ff2c6300