What Sci-Hub's latest court battle means for research - Nature

Sci-Hub, the popular website that offers access to millions of pirated research papers and books, is no stranger to legal action. But, for the ... Skiptomaincontent Thankyouforvisitingnature.com.YouareusingabrowserversionwithlimitedsupportforCSS.Toobtain thebestexperience,werecommendyouuseamoreuptodatebrowser(orturnoffcompatibilitymodein InternetExplorer).Inthemeantime,toensurecontinuedsupport,wearedisplayingthesitewithoutstyles andJavaScript. Advertisement nature news article DownloadPDF AccesstoSci-Hubhasbeenblockedinseveralcountries,butthesitearguesitsactivitiesarepermittedunderIndia’scopyrightlaw.Credit:SharafMaksumov/Shutterstock Sci-Hub,thepopularwebsitethatoffersaccesstomillionsofpiratedresearchpapersandbooks,isnostrangertolegalaction.But,forthefirsttime,thesiteisdefendingitsoperationsincourt,inacopyrightcasefiledinIndiabyagroupofmajorpublishers.InalawsuitpresentedinDelhi’shighcourt,theAmericanChemicalSociety,ElsevierandWileysaythatthesiteinfringestheircopyright,andaskthecourttoinstructInternetserviceprovidersinIndiatoblockaccesstoit.Sci-Hub’sfounderAlexandraElbakyanarguesthat,inIndia,copyrightis“notapplicableincasessuchasSci-Hub,when[material]isrequiredforscienceandeducation”. Publishersunitetotackledoctoredimagesinresearchpapers LegalexpertssaythatthereisachancethecourtwillruleinSci-Hub’sfavour,becauseofakeyaspectofthecountry’scopyrightlaw.Thecasehingesonthedefinitionof‘fairdealings’,whichinthepasthasenabledinstitutionsinIndiatolawfullyreproduceacademictextbooksandothercopyrightedmaterialforuseineducation.IfSci-Hubwins,itcouldforcepublisherstorethinktheirbusinessmodelsinasimilarwaytohowthemusicindustrychangedinresponsetothearrivaloftheInternet,saysArulGeorgeScaria,alegalscholarattheNationalLawUniversity,Delhi.AttitudestowardsSci-HubinothercountriescouldchangeonthebasisofIndia’sruling,andtheoutcomecouldeveninfluencesimilarcasesinfuture.PiratesitePreviously,publishershavesuedSci-HubandElbakyaninseveralcountries,andaccesshasbeenblocked,orisduetobeblocked,in11countries,includingGermany,France,SwedenandtheUnitedKingdom.InlawsuitsfiledinrecentyearsbyElsevierandtheAmericanChemicalSociety,USjudgesruledthatSci-Hubinfringedthepublishers’copyrightsandowedthemUS$15millionand$4.8million,respectively.Elbakyandidnotappearincourt,orofferanylegalrepresentationforthesiteduringthosecases,andthefineshavesofarnotbeenpaid.“PiratesiteslikeSci-Hubthreatentheintegrityofthescientificrecord,andthesafetyofuniversityandpersonaldata,”thepublishersbehindthecaseinIndiatoldNatureinastatement.“Theycompromisethesecurityoflibrariesandhigher-educationinstitutions,togainunauthorizedaccesstoscientificdatabasesandotherproprietaryintellectualproperty,andillegallyharvestjournalarticlesande-books.”ThepublishersalsoallegethatSci-Hubusesstolenusercredentialsandphishingattackstoextractcopyrightedjournalarticlesillegally.Elbakyansaysthattheseare“emptyaccusations”that“haveabsolutelynocontentofevidencebehindthem”.ShedeniesthatSci-Hubisathreattoscience,ortothesecurityofacademicinstitutions.“Opencommunicationisafundamentalpropertyofscienceanditmakesscientificprogresspossible.Paywalledaccesspreventsthis,”Elbakyanadds.“Thatisathreat,andnotSci-Hub.”Thesitehasprovedpopularamongresearchers,whosaytheirinstitutionscannotaffordcostlyjournalsubscriptions.Indiaaccountsforthethird-largestproportionofSci-Hub’susers,andwhenpublishersbroughttheDelhicaseinDecember2020,agroupoflawyersofferedElbakyanlegalrepresentation.“Thereareseriousquestionsofaccesstoknowledgethatthecourtoughttotakeintoaccount,”saysLawrenceLiang,alegalscholaratAmbedkarUniversityDelhi,whoisn’tpartofthedefenceteambuthelpedtorallysupportforSci-Hubfromscientists.Fairdealings?ThedefencewillarguethatSci-Hub’sactivitiesarecoveredbythelistofexemptionsinIndia’sCopyrightActof1957.Oneoftheseisthat‘fairdealings’ofaworkcanbeusedforprivateorpersonaluse,includingresearch.Academicpublishershavefallenfoulofthissectionoftheactbefore.In2012,fivepublishers—includingOxfordUniversityPressandCambridgeUniversityPress—unsuccessfullysuedtheUniversityofDelhianditsphotocopyingshopforallegedcopyrightinfringementincoursepacksmadeattheinstitution.Thesepackscontainedphotocopiesofpassagesandchaptersfromtextbooksand,insomecases,copiesofentirebooksthatwereproducedforstudents,manyofwhocouldnotaffordtobuytheoriginals. AguidetoPlanS:theopen-accessinitiativeshakingupsciencepublishing Thejudgeruledthattheuniversityandthephotocopyingshopwerenotinfringingthecopyrightofthebooks’publishers,becauseoneoftheexemptionslistedinthecopyrightactincludesreproducingwork“byateacherorpupilinthecourseofinstruction”.Akeypartofthecasewasevidencesubmittedtothecourtbystudentsandteachersstatingtheneedforthephotocopies.Thiswasallowedbecausetherewasdeemedtobesufficientnationalinterestintheruling.Liangwasinvolvedinthatcase,andsaysthatIndia’sfair-dealingprovisionscouldbebroadenoughtofacilitatethekindofaccessthatSci-Hubgivestoarticles.Aswiththetextbooks,nationalinterestinthecasemeansthataffectedpartiescansubmitevidencetothecourt.Earlierthisyear,20ofIndia’stopscientistsarguedthatthecountry’sscientificcommunity“standstobegravelyprejudiced”ifthecasegoesagainstSci-Hub.Thescientistssayinadocument—knownasapetition—submittedtothecourtthatthecasecouldhavean“adverseimpactonaccesstoscientificknowledge,andsoonscienceandtechnologyresearchinIndia”.“Accesstoinformationiscrucialforresearchers.Whentheinformationishiddenbehindpaywalls,thatcurbsinnovation,”saysShahidJameel,avirologistcurrentlyattheUniversityofOxford,UK,whosignedthepetition.ComputationalbiologistRahulSiddharthanattheInstituteofMathematicalSciencesinChennai,India,addsthat“apartfromasmallnumberofeliteinstitutesinIndia,mostcannotaffordtosubscribe”tojournals.FurtherpetitionssupportingSci-Hubhavebeensubmittedbymedicaldoctorsandpolicyadviserswhousescientificpapersaspartoftheirwork.RippleeffectThecase’snexthearingisscheduledfor16December,butlegalexpertswarnthatitcouldrumbleonforyears.Scariasaysthattheoutcomewilldependonwhoserightsthejudgefocusesonunderthecopyrightrules.“Ifthejudgeviewsthematterfromtheperspectiveofuserrightsundercopyrightlaw,thereisahighchancethatSci-Hubwillwinthecase,”hesays.Butifthejudgeviewsthematterfromtheperspectiveofthecopyrightholder,theverdictmightgoagainstthesite.TheramificationsforpublishersifSci-Hubwinsarehardtopredict,accordingtoSci-Hub’slawyersShrutanjayaBhardwajandSriyaSridhar.“Courtsinprogressivenationsfrequentlyborrowprinciplesfromforeignjurisdictions,anditispossiblethatSci-Hub’svictorybeforetheDelhihighcourtwillcauseaglobalrippleeffect,”theysay.Ontheotherhand,alossforSci-Hubcouldseemanyresearchersandinstitutionsthatcannotaffordjournalsubscriptionsbeing“excludedfromaccesstoscholarlywork”.ElbakyansaysthatthecasecouldchangeeverythingforSci-Hub.Winningcouldbringopportunitiestoimprovethesiteandextenditsreach.“Today,theperceptionofSci-Hub[isthat]itisanillegalproject,andthatisevennotdisputable,butafact,”shetellsNature.“Victorywillshowthe‘fact’tobemerelyanopinion.” Nature600,370-371(2021) doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03659-0 Updates&Corrections Clarification14December2021:ThisarticlehasbeenupdatedtoclarifythatcommentsfromSci-Hub’slegalteamcomefrombothShrutanjayaBhardwajandSriyaSridhar. RelatedArticles AguidetoPlanS:theopen-accessinitiativeshakingupsciencepublishing Publishersunitetotackledoctoredimagesinresearchpapers PiratepaperwebsiteSci-HubdealtanotherblowbyUScourts PublishersthreatentoremovemillionsofpapersfromResearchGate Sciencepublisherstrynewtacktocombatunauthorizedpapersharing Subjects Law Publishing Lateston: Law ScienceagencyontrialfollowingdeadlyWhiteIslandvolcanoeruption News06OCT21 Climatescienceissupportinglawsuitsthatcouldhelpsavetheworld NewsFeature08SEP21 Italy:scientistspetitionagainstbiodynamicfarminglaw Correspondence13JUL21 Publishing JournalsadoptAItospotduplicatedimagesinmanuscripts News21DEC21 Buildaregistryofresultsthatstudentscanreplicate WorldView20DEC21 HomininskullandMarspanorama—November’sbestscienceimages News07DEC21 Jobs PhDcandidateinMachineLearningattheedgeoftheSmartGrid InterdisciplinaryCentreforSecurity,ReliabilityandTrust(SnT),UniversityofLuxembourg Luxembourg,Luxembourg wiss.Mitarbeiter/in(m/w/d) TechnischeUniversitätDresden(TUDresden) 01069Dresden,Germany Masterthesis:Tidalsandflatbenthiccommunitiesunderthepressurefrommarineheatwaves AlfredWegenerInstitute-HelmholtzCentreforPolarandMarineResearch(AWI) Sylt,Germany YoungInvestigatorGroupLeader(m/f/d) AlfredWegenerInstitute-HelmholtzCentreforPolarandMarineResearch(AWI) Bremerhaven,Germany DownloadPDF RelatedArticles AguidetoPlanS:theopen-accessinitiativeshakingupsciencepublishing Publishersunitetotackledoctoredimagesinresearchpapers PiratepaperwebsiteSci-HubdealtanotherblowbyUScourts PublishersthreatentoremovemillionsofpapersfromResearchGate Sciencepublisherstrynewtacktocombatunauthorizedpapersharing Subjects Law Publishing SignuptoNatureBriefing Anessentialround-upofsciencenews,opinionandanalysis,deliveredtoyourinboxeveryweekday. 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