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OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation

PUBLISHING

OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterials
ExtendstoScholarlyBooks
ByGoldieBlumenstyk

APRIL 12, 2016

niversitypresseshave
becomeawareinrecent
weeksthatunauthorized

copiesofhundredsand,insomecases,
thousandsoftheirbooksareavailableon
piratewebsites,andofficialsarestill
strugglingwithhowtorespond.
Severalpressleaderssaidtheywantedto
besureanystancetheytakeagainst
piracyisntperceivedasanattackonthe
openaccessmovement,whichisgaining
popularityamongsomeacademicsand
librarians.Italsoappearsthatfew,if
any,presseshaveformallynotifiedtheir
authorsthatdigitalcopiesoftheirbooks
Association of American University Presses

areavailablefreeonanillicitwebsite.

Peter Berkery, executive director of the Association of

American University Presses: "We dont want people
to think were taking a position against open access.
Were taking a position against the, and hacking,

"Manyofthesebooksareourbest
sellers,"saidDeanJ.Smith,directorof
CornellUniversityPress."Thisisreally

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and phishing."

painfultoauniversitypress."
Theunauthorizedcopiesareavailable

throughasitecalledLibraryGenesis,whichalsooffersmorethanamillionpopularbooks
fromcommercialpublishers.
ThesiteappearstobeasistersitetoSciHub,anunauthorizedcollectionofscholarly
journalarticlescreatedbyAlexandraElbakyan,agraduatestudentinKazakhstan.While
theworkingsofthetwositesarentexactlyclear,severalpressdirectorssaidtheybelieved
SciHubisthetoolthatalsopowerstheLibraryGenesisdatabase.
Bothsiteswereorderedshutdownlastyearasaresultofalawsuitfiledbyacommercial
journalpublisher,Elsevier.
Otherversionsofthesites,whichfeatureinstructionsinbothRussianandEnglish,
subsequentlyreappearedunderslightlydifferentwebaddresses.Akindofmanifestoposted
onthesitesarguesthattheinformationinthearticlesandbooksshouldbefreefrom
commercialrestraints.

ADawningAwareness
TheCornellpresspublishesabout100newbooksayear.Nearly500ofitstitleswerelisted
ontheLibraryGenesissiteasofMonday.Thesitealsolistedmorethan800booksfromthe
JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,nearly2,000fromHarvardUniversityPress,andmore
than4,800fromMITPress.

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TheNewEducationLandscape
TheChronicleofHigherEducationsRe:Learningprojectprovidesstoriesandanalysisaboutthischange
momentforlearning.
Signupforourweeklynewsletter
JointhediscussiononFacebook
Listentothepodcast

Morethan17,000itemsfromthebiggestofalluniversitypresses,OxfordUniversityPress,
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areonthesite(includingabookbythisreporter),butitcouldnotbeimmediately
determinedifthatcountalsotalliessomeofthe380journalsitpublishes.
"Awarenessofthesituationisonlybeginningintheuniversitycommunity,"saidPeterM.
BerkeryJr.,executivedirectoroftheAssociationofAmericanUniversityPresses,inan
interviewonMonday.WhilemuchoftherecentnewscoverageofSciHubhasfocusedon
itstroveofjournalarticles,therehasbeenlittlementionoftheelectronicfilesofbooksit
alsooffersonitssite,includingPDFs,MOBIfiles(usedforKindleeditions),andfilesused
bybookaggregatorslikeebrary,JSTOR,andProjectMUSE.
InanemailonMarch31,Mr.Berkeryinformedhis100plusmembersthattheirbooks
wereonthesite.Henotedthatwhiletheinformationwouldprobablyleavethemfeeling
"somecombinationofoutragedandnervous,"therewasverylittlethattheyandthe
associationcoulddoaboutitintheshortrunbesidesissuingastatementcondemningthe
site,whichhepromisedwouldcomesoon.
"Thepressesaregoingtohavetoworkwiththeaggregatorstobeefuptheirsecurity"on
digitalcopies,saidMr.Berkery,intheinterview.Inthelongerterm,hesaid,thepresses
willneedtobepartoflargerconversationswiththerestoftheacademiccommunity.
Peopleneedtoappreciatethedifferencebetweenopenaccess,whichmanyuniversity
pressesarealreadyembracing,andtheactionsofthiswebsite,which"isjustplainand
simpletheft,"saidMr.Berkery."Wedontwantpeopletothinkweretakingaposition
againstopenaccess.Weretakingapositionagainsttheft,andhacking,andphishing."

TheGemsoftheBacklist
Mr.Berkerysaidhehadnottakenafullaccountingofhowmanypresseshadhadtheir
bookspiratedbythesite,buthehadheardthesitecontains"thegemsofthebacklist"for
manyofthem.Whatsmore,"pressesarehavingaterribleyearthisyear,asagroup,"with
severalreportingslowsalesonbookstheyexpectedwouldtakeoff.Whetherthesiteis
responsibleforthatpattern,hesaid,"wedontknow."
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Oxfordofficialsdeclinedtospeak
specificallyaboutthepotentialimpactof
thepiratesite,butDavidCrotty,its
editorialdirectorforjournalspolicy,

Whatareyouwonderingabouthowcollege
teachingischanging?

whohasbeencloselyfollowingSci
Hub,saiditcouldcertainlyposeathreat,

140charactersleft

withlongertermimplications:"Ifyoure

Your contact info

losingahugechunkofsales,fewer

We'llbeintouchifwefindananswer.
Name

booksaregoingtogetmade."Oxford

Emailaddress

publishes3,000newtitlesayear.

Institution(optional)

Mr.CrottyhastangleddirectlywithMs.

Pleasedontpublishmyname

Elbakyaninthecommentssectionof
ScholarlyKitchen,ablogabout

Submit

poweredbyHearken.

academicpublishing.Theonline
exchangewaspromptedbyMs.
Elbakyansclaimthatnonprofitorganizationssuchasuniversitypressesshouldnotbe
sellinginthefirstplace.
RichardBrown,directorofGeorgetownUniversityPress,whichpublishesjust40new
booksayear,saidtheargumenthighlightsMs.Elbakyansmisunderstandingoftheposition
ofmostuniversitypresses.TheGeorgetownpresshasmade85ofitsmonographsavailable
inopenaccessversions,but"wehavetosellstuff"toremainselfsustaining,hesaid.About
200ofitsbooksareonthepiratesite.
TheemergenceofthepiratebooksiteisespeciallypainfulforMr.Smith.Beforetakingthe
postatCornell,hedirectedProjectMUSEandspentalotoftimewithpublishers,"making
themcomfortablewiththisidea"ofsharingtheirbooksinelectronicformats."Ihadnt
expectedsomethinglikethis,asystematicwidespreaddownloadingofcontent,"hesaid.

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Universitypressesprovidealotofeditinganddoalotofwork"helpingfirsttimewriters
gettingtheirtenurebooksreadyforpublication,"saidMr.Smith."Anykindofsituation
likethiskillsthebusinessmodel."

VigilantesoftheDarkWeb
InaninterviewwithTheWashingtonPost,aboutSciHub,Ms.Elbakyanclaimedthat
150,000papersaredownloadedfromthesiteeachday.Ifthebooksitegotacomparable
levelofuse,"thatwouldbeprofound,"saidGregoryM.Britton,aneditorattheJohns
Hopkinspress.
Thebreadthofthesitescollectionisnttheonlythingaboutitthatunnerveshim.Thesite
ispartofthesocalleddarkweb,whichmeansitmaynotshowupinastandardGoogle
search.Butunlikesomesuchsites,whichrequirespecialprotocols,itsgot"aremarkably
easysearchengine,"henoted.Lastweekhetesteditoutbydownloadingafewofhis
presssbooks,andtheyallcamethroughperfectly.Thisreporterdidthesamewithher
book,andreceivedaperfectcopywithin10seconds.
TheuniversitypressdirectorssaidtheyrecognizedthatsiteslikeSciHubandLibrary
Genesiscanseemappealingtolibrariansandothers,especiallywhenthesitesportray
themselvesasvigilantesagainstcommercialjournalpublisherswhomthelibrariansblame
fordrivingupthecostofsubscriptions.Indeed,thatspartoftheappealthepiratesite
makesinits"solidarityletter,"claimingatonepointthat"closedaccesssmonopolyover
academicpublishing,itsspectacularprofits,anditscentralroleintheallocationof
academicprestigetrumpthepublicinterest."
Butwhile"theresnolovelostbetweenlibrariansandbigcommercialpublishers,"said
MeredithBabb,directoroftheUniversityPressofFlorida,thepiratesitescanharm
librariestoo.Thesitesunderminelibraryusage,whichcouldmeanlibrariesperusercosts
forlicensedscholarlycontentwillgoup,shenoted.Thatmightmakeithardertojustify
manysubscriptions.Andthesites,whichdependonstolenpasswords,couldalsothreaten
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libraryanduniversitysecuritysystems.
Whatsmore,shesaid,therationaleforsupportingopenaccess,andperhapsevenpiracy,
forjournalarticlesisbasedontheideathatpubliclyfinancedresearchshouldbemade
morefreelyavailable.But"theresacompletelydifferentparadigmforuniversitypress
books,"saidMs.Babb,whoisalsopresidentoftheuniversitypressassociation.Most
universitypressbooks,shesaid,arenotproducedwithgovernmentgrants.
Itsthatargument,coupledwithapushthatattemptstodistinguishuniversitypressesfrom
theElseviersoftheworld,thattheAAUPwillverylikelybemakingintheweeksand
monthstocome.
"Werenotcommercialpublishers,"saidMr.Berkery."Weremissiondrivenpublishers,"
andthepiratesites"arecripplingourabilitytocarryoutthatmission."
GoldieBlumenstykwritesabouttheintersectionofbusinessandhighereducation.Check
outwww.goldieblumenstyk.comforinformationonhernewbookaboutthehigher
educationcrisisfollowheronTwitter@GoldieStandardoremailherat
goldie@chronicle.com.
JointheconversationaboutthisarticleontheRe:LearningFacebookpage.
Thisarticleispartof:

MappingtheNewEducationLandscape

Copyright 2016 The Chronicle of Higher Education

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