In his commentary on copyright (Bulletin, November 2004) Michael Geist suggests "copyright is important to the education community." In my 25 years as an educator I have not seen any evidence of this. In fact, according to numerous recent discussions, both in print and on the Internet, many members of the academic community view copyright as a nuisance. It unduly complicates and often prevents their access to research and educational materials without bringing them any tangible benefit in return.

With the exception of a relatively narrow category of successful commercial authors, copyright does not really "compensate creators" in the academic world. As an author of more than 100 research papers - all copyrighted, by the way - I have never received a penny for any of them. Indeed, as a rule I'm usually asked to pay often outrageously high publication charges. Furthermore, several of my colleagues who have published educational textbooks admit their royalties, if any, are largely symbolic. The same is true for most research monographs.

As a popular saying goes, one of the most frustrating activities is to try to improve something which should not have existed in the first place. In my view copyright fits the bill. While it may have served some good purpose in a pre-digital economy, its continued existence in the digital age, at least as far as the academic world is concerned, brings more harm than good. The best strategy for the academic community would be a cohesive effort for its gradual phase-out, the first step of which could well be a shortening of its term to three or five years after the original publication.

Alexander A. Berezin
Engineering, McMaster University