Re: The policy of arXiv

[Bill Rowan <rowan@transbay.net>]

Hi all,

I think it is relevant to point out that if people who post articles to
the Arxiv agree to grant a permanent, _non-exclusive_ right to distribute the
article,  that means, that if the operators of the Arxiv, whoever
they are, decide to sell copies of the database, or individual articles,
they won't be entitled to prevent anyone else from distributing the
same material for free.  So they can't corner the market on the content,
in other words.

All in all it doesn't seem that big of a concern to me, although certainly
worth a thoughtful discussion.  It would be nice to hear from Cornell
Library about their intentions.

Bill Rowan