The Not So Fair Copyright in Research Works Act

Yet another attempt for people who make money based on things being copyrighted trying to screw over the public. This comes from Peter Suber's blog:

"Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) re-introduced the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act. The Fair Copyright Act is to fair copyright what the Patriot Act was to patriotism. It would repeal the OA policy at the NIH and prevent similar OA policies at any federal agency. The premise of the bill, urged by the publishing lobby, is that the NIH policy somehow violates copyright law. The premise is false and cynical. If the NIH policy violated copyrights, or permitted the violation of copyrights, publishers wouldn't have to back this bill to amend US copyright law. Instead, they'd be in court where they'd already have a remedy. For a detailed analysis of the bill and point by point rebuttal to the publishing lobby's rhetoric, see my article from October 2008."

Needless to say that anything that leads to more copyright laws is a bad thing in my book... Start yelling at your congressman now or all the government reports created with your tax dollars will soon no longer be available for free online. (Not that you read them anyways... )