Re:MIT Ends Elsevier Negotiations
by gpm on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:58PM
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I don't think that was an "or" clause, I think it was an "and". The author will retain the copyright, and they will have generous re-use rights (i.e. they will not agree to a restrictive exclusive license).
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But Elsevier's lawyers would presumably argue during negotiations that the option to have CC0 distribution of text meets this stipulation, whether in spirit or letter.
I would bet that MIT's choice to divorce from Els came from a combination of ideoligical, budget, and reputational concerns (e.g. the UC system divorced from them as well and MIT now stands in solidarity). So I don't think issue was likely to be decisive.
I think that if the price had been right, all parties would have found a way to argue that the stated terms had been met -- or to simply not address them.