.....discussion. I'm not out for blood, and I'm really kinda hoping that I'll get an email in my inbox today that says "Yes, feel free to use and discuss the mentioned graphs." So far I haven't, and I think that's sad. In piling on here, and around the internet, I just want people to think about what the purpose of doing federally funded research is. Its not so it can molder away on a shelf, far from the eyes of those who paid for it and can benefit from it.
I'd like to think this knowledge is for everyone, and that the free, unfettered exchange of ideas is sometimes facilitated by visual representations of data.
I understand that copyrights are serious business. I take it seriously, which is why I took down the figures. However, it has not been made clear to me (although many have provided valuable input) whether I did anything that wasn't on the up-and-up. Fair use on the internet, and the use of digital data, is one that is just being pioneered. It's going to be a painful transition for traditional publication venues, but one that should be navigated with caution and finesse.
Some have called for the boycott of all Wiley journals. While I appreciate the sentiment (more than any of you can know), I'm not sure that that is the best idea for science. I'd like to think that we bloggers can deal with these types of things with some grace, roll with the punches, get up, and keep on going. Wiley didn't exercise the best judgment in choosing to prod me into submission, but I don't think we have to return tit-for-tat.
Instead, I'd like this to be a discussion between old and new media, and how the old can be ushered into the new with the least trauma possible. It does affect us all, and I'm not thrilled to be bullied, but Wiley is a company which I've had just one interaction with (and not a high-up). So, I want to give them every chance to respond to my last email (still nothing so far).
Who knows? Maybe when they see the amount of respectful, intelligent discourse going on here (and other places) they might start to value blogs as publication forums a bit more.
UPDATE: I was contacted by the head of the journal, resolution here.
BoingBoing and SlashDot covered this.
http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/04/victory_a_happy_resolution.php
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Tell them you'll sic your own lawyers on them if they don't send you a pony.
It's slightly peripheral, but no one who publishes on the Web should ever consider him or herself to be anything less than a journalist with all the rights of anyone who publishes anywhere in any medium, including print. That should be the starting position; your publication is just like a publication in any journal.
Get ready for an avalanche. Current top post at Boing Boing
Just let me say that I think that is a very mature attitude ...
Now everyone back to storming the castle! Bring up the battering ram ...
Shelley, I don't know if this has already been discussed in one of your earlier posts, but have you corresponded with the authors of the article yet? If Wiley holds the copyright then it might not matter in a strictly legal sense, but it would certainly lend some moral support if they agree to your usage of their material. Plus, they could probably get their editor to pass the word along to the proper corporate people to get some action on this.
So have you received a response from the permissions person at Wiley yet? (Admittedly it is a little funny that the person tasked with sending the cease-and-desist letters doesn't, say, work in the office next door to the person granting permissions...) It seems to me that until you go through their process of requesting permission and being refused (if Wiley so chooses) there may be a great deal of heat being generated over a pretty minor issue.
I never did receive any email back from the 'formal request for permission' email I sent two days back. However, since I did receive the apology letter from the head editor today, I figured that was in lieu of a response from them.
I used to work there. I was at the dummies label when we were bought out. The permissions people at Wiley are hidebound conservatives who protect every thing regardless. They were the stiffest organization I ever worked with. Your experience brings that bad taste in my mouth back up.
I love the blog.