Open access research publications and South African institutional repositories (IRS) in the context of Private Law and practices : an interdisciplinary study

Abstract

The object of the research is to show the extent of legal challenges that South African librarians encounter with regard to support for public access to research-related information through open access practices such as institutional (research) repositories. This study employs an interdisciplinary approach combining library and information science with Private Law. By making use of a social-legal approach the focus is on the legal challenges institutional repository managers face in managing online, publicly accessible platforms in a legally compliant manner. The global flow of information through the concepts of “open science”, “open access”, “open data”, and the role these play in the broader development of a knowledge society is explored. Through a systemic approach the different role-players, legislation, regulations, regulatory bodies, institutional policies and copyright agreements with (largely international) academic publishers are taken into account. Legal challenges with regard to copyright restrictions, contracts with publishers, leasing of material and the use of Creative Commons licensing are categorised and explained in relation to the extent of repository services. The study also takes into account the changes that might arise from the Copyright Amendment Bill, showing that open science initiatives require a combination of approaches (not just legal reform) if the current scholarly publishing system is to change. A twofold practical component attempts to make the study a useful resource for information specialists by: (i) undertaking a case study of legal and institutional regulations and of repositories by exploring the different regulatory systems and the legal challenges faced in the running of the UPSpace repository (University of Pretoria); (ii) establishing basic guidelines for librarians and information workers on good legal practices for maintaining an institutional repository in South Africa, by balancing legal requirements and the drive for public access to scholarly knowledge.