Heidelberg roll call

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The Heidelberg Appeal is a call on the subject of copyright , which was initiated by the Heidelberg literary scholar Roland Reuss . He is against the digitization of copyrighted works through the Google Book Search and against Open Access . It was published on March 22, 2009 and is aimed at the German federal government and the governments of the federal states . The Heidelberg appeal is linked to a signature campaign on the Internet . Within a few weeks he found more than 2,600 signatories, including numerous authors, publishers, scholars and journalists. At the same time, it was rejected by many scholars and publicists as flawed and misleading.

Content of the appeal

The Heidelberg Appeal sees itself as a political appeal to the German government to defend the current copyright law, which it sees as “exposed to massive attacks and endangered”, nationally and internationally to protect authors “with all available means”.

Google Book Settlement and YouTube

On the one hand, copyright infringements on the part of Google by digitizing protected works for their Internet service Google Book Search are cited as an acute threat to copyright .

The Heidelberg appeal saw a major problem in the so-called Google Book Settlement . This was a settlement proposal that the company Google had drawn up in response to a class action lawsuit brought by US publishers and authors. If this settlement had come about in its first version before the New York court, it would also have affected non-American publishers and authors. In addition, authors would not have been able to take legal action against the settlement agreements under American law, unless they had previously excluded themselves from the class action through individual objection. Google would then have been able to put every work by German-speaking authors who have not filed an objection in the USA for viewing in digitized form on its platform, without the authors being able to object to this, at least on American soil. The international criticism of the Google Book Settlement , in which the German government and the EU Commission were involved, finally led Google to develop a new settlement proposal, which was presented in November 2009 and excluded European books (except for British ones) from the settlement.

The Heidelberg appeal also specifically mentions YouTube - a platform of the Google company since 2006 - and criticizes the fact that it drives and enables copyright infringements. This ultimately leads to greater acceptance of copyright infringements. With regard to YouTube, the collecting society GEMA became active around the same time as the Heidelberg appeal by not extending a user agreement with YouTube that was valid until March 31, 2009. Since then, music videos by artists represented by GEMA can no longer be accessed from Germany ( see main article: YouTube, section on copyright infringement ).

Open Access

On the other hand, the appeal sees the obligation of German scientists to publish their research results via Open Access as a compulsion to use a certain form of publication and criticizes the fact that authors should be restricted to this form of publication. The background to this is the request by the Alliance of German Science Organizations to scientists that they either publish primarily using Open Access or at least also choose this form of publication. This enables easy access to these publications and puts as little financial burden on the public sector as possible. The Heidelberg appeal sees this as "far-reaching encroachments on the freedom of the press and publication, the consequences of which would be unconstitutional". He fears that the authors will lose decision-making options and individual legal claims, and therefore sees the freedom of the press guaranteed in Article 5 of the Basic Law and the freedom of research and teaching at risk.

The text of the appeal implicitly, Roland Reuss explicitly in a later article, refers to Section 12 (1) of the Copyright Act : "The author has the right to determine whether and how his work is to be published."

Effects

By mid-December 2009, the appeal had more than 2,600 signatories, including many authors and publishers. Prominent supporters include personalities from the fields of culture (including Siegfried Lenz , Günter Grass , Peter Zadek , Jan Philipp Reemtsma ) and science ( Kurt Flasch , Klaus Reichert , Dieter Borchmeyer , Karl Corino and others). A large number of German publishers (including Suhrkamp , S. Fischer , CH Beck , Carl Hanser , Reclam ), photographers, illustrators and publicists ( Michael Naumann , Bascha Mika , Tilman Spengler , Matthias Matussek and others) and two members of the Bundestag ( Hans-Peter Bartels and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger ) signed the appeal. The writer Peter Glaser withdrew his signature in April 2009 because he only supported a procedure against Google, but did not share the criticism of the Heidelberg appeal for linking funding with the obligation to open access publications.

In addition to the declaration by the Alliance of German Science Organizations and the statement by the Action Alliance on Copyright for Education and Science, there have been overwhelmingly critical voices in online media and blogs. While print media like Die Zeit , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Der Spiegel tended to approve the appeal, it was consistently criticized by online media like Perlentaucher , the c't magazine and heise online / Telepolis . The critics include the journalist Matthias Spielkamp , the literary scholar Florian Cramer, as well as the art historian Hubertus Kohlen, a former member of a DFG committee, and the journalist David Harnasch .

Among other things, it is criticized that the Heidelberg Appeal operates alarmism and mixes two fundamentally different things with its criticism of the Google book search and the criticism of a compulsion to open access. In this context, the appeal was also accused of instrumentalizing the intellectual public. In a survey of ten prominent signatories, the online magazine Telepolis found that there were “ambiguities among the signatories”.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which primarily offered a forum for supporters of the Heidelberg appeal and, together with Reuss, initiated a conference on copyright law, is running a campaign that is not about old rights of authors, but about new rights for publishers. The alliance of German science organizations named in the text of the Heidelberg appeal resolutely contradicted the appeal on March 25, 2009: The alliance was confronted with the appeal "with the unacceptable allegation of wanting to curtail the freedom to publish in a way contrary to the constitution".

The then Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries (SPD), the then head of the Chancellery Thomas de Maizière (CDU), the Minister of State Bernd Neumann (CDU) and Hans-Joachim Otto (FDP), chairman of the Bundestag committee for culture and media, pressed the Heidelberg appeal in April 2009 their support. Zypries called Google's behavior “unacceptable” in a letter to Reuss. With regard to the second concern of the appeal, the protection of the freedom of publication of scientists, de Maizière announced that the Open Access movement would also be closely monitored and, if necessary , the need for regulatory action examined. The then Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) also spoke out against the “rushing ahead” of Google “without a legal basis” with reference to the rights of the authors.

At the beginning of May 2009, the final hearing procedure for the Google Book Settlement from July 11, 2009 was postponed to October 6, 2009. The objection period for publishers and authors ("non-participation period") was extended from May 5, 2009 to September 4, 2009. VG Wort has drawn up its own proposed regulation for the German book market . The collecting society offers publishers and authors the opportunity to represent their rights to their works in a separate class action lawsuit in the USA. In addition to remuneration claims for books already digitized by Google and licensing of digitized copies of out-of-print titles by VG Wort, the removal of available and out-of-print titles from the Google book search is planned. For this purpose, VG Wort intends to set up its own database together with the German National Library . CH Beck was the first major German publisher to withdraw from the Google Book Settlement . The publishing house announced at the end of May 2009 that it would exercise the rights for itself and its authors "independently of the plans of VG Wort". The world's largest book company Random House , a subsidiary of Bertelsmann , and the Swedish media company Bonnier are in favor of Google's plans.

On May 7th and 8th, 2009 the Federal Ministry of Justice organized an international conference on the “Future of Copyright”. Bernd Neumann had Google put the dispute over the digitization of books on the agenda of the European Council of Ministers of Culture on May 11th and 12th, 2009. Federal Justice Minister Zypries asked the European Commission on May 28, 2009 to take up the subject of Google Book Search and called for European action against Google. Since May 2009 VG Wort has been in talks with collecting societies in Austria and Switzerland in order to prevent Google from becoming a monopoly .

On July 15, 2009, the conference “Authorship as Werkherrschaft in Digitale Zeit” took place in Frankfurt am Main, at which the concerns of the Heidelberg appeal were examined from different angles. A representative of the German Research Foundation explained at the conference that it was never the intention of the Alliance of Science Organizations to question the constitutional basis of academic freedom and that every scientist in Germany is free to publish in whatever medium he or she wants.

In a statement, the Scientific Services of the German Bundestag assess the Heidelberg appeal critically and highlight the advantages of digitization and Open Access.

As part of the court settlement negotiations in September 2009, Google announced that it would address the concerns from abroad. In addition to the Federal Government and the EU Commission, the Internet mail order company Amazon had also criticized the Google Book Settlement , insofar as it saw restrictions on competition in it . In mid-November 2009, Google gave in to international criticism and relented with a new settlement proposal that excludes European titles from the comparison if they are protected by copyright. The court tentatively approved the amended settlement proposal on November 19, 2009.

literature

A problematic discussion of the topics of Google Book Search and Open Access in the sciences was already held before the Heidelberg appeal, not just from a legal point of view. The most important reference texts for the appeal, for the discussion related to it and statements on the appeal are listed here in chronological order. (For articles and comments on the Heidelberg Appeal see under web links.)

Declarations by German science organizations:

  • Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Scientific Knowledge (October 22, 2003) PDF
  • Action alliance on copyright for education and science: Göttingen Declaration on Copyright for Education and Science of July 5, 2004, copyrightsbuendnis.de
  • Alliance of German Science Organizations: "Digital Information" priority initiative of the alliance partner organizations (2009) PDF

Texts and discussion in the run-up to the Heidelberg appeal:

  • Roland Reuss: The edition philology and the printed book. On the problem of the digital edition in the field of tension between philology, economics and technocratic presumptions. In: Text . Critical Contributions , 12, 2008, pp. 1–10
  • Uwe Jochum: fool's gold. A criticism of the national licenses. In: Text . Critical Contributions , 12, 2008, pp. 13–29 PDF
  • Joachim Güntner: Soon all books in the world from a single source . In: NZZ , November 4, 2008 (example)
  • Roland Reuss: Con crema. Open Access as expropriation , first in: FAZ , February 11, 2009, udT Open Access. A secret technocratic seizure of power Open Access A secret technocratic seizure of power , PDF
  • Gudrun Gersmann : Who is Afraid of Open Access? , in: FAZ, February 18, 2009 berufundchance.fazjob.net
  • James A. Evans, Jacob Reimer: Open Access and Global Participation in Science , in: Science , 323, 5917, February 20, 2009
  • Roland Reuss: Short answer to a not so surprising reply in the FAZ of February 18, 2009 (February 2009) PDF
  • Roland Reuß: On Google Books , first in: Frankfurter Rundschau , March 12, 2009, udT Google Books. Dispossess the shameless dispossession! fr-online.de , PDF

Text of the Heidelberg appeal:

  • Heidelberg roll call. For freedom of publication and the protection of copyrights (March 22, 2009) PDF

Comments on the Heidelberg appeal and the copyright issue:

Book publications:

  • Roland Reuss, Volker Rieble (eds.): Authorship as a work master in the digital age . Frankfurt am Main 2009: Klostermann PDF
  • Uwe Jochum: "Open Access". To criticize some popular assumptions. Göttingen 2009: Wallstein

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information platform Open Access: Press review ( Memento from May 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c d Heidelberg Appeal (text) (PDF)
  3. ^ Roland Reuß: On GoogleBooks , also in: Frankfurter Rundschau , March 12, 2009
  4. ^ Rudolf Walther : "Open Expropriation" by GoogleBooks , the daily newspaper , March 20, 2009
  5. ↑ a b Google Book Settlement ( Memento from February 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (Google)
  6. ↑ American justice examines Google's comparison , FAZ, April 29, 2009
  7. ↑ Michael W. Perry: Everything now depends on Europe , FAZ, May 5, 2009
  8. ↑ Burkhard Hess : It is time for the federal government to intervene , FAZ, May 7, 2009
  9. ↑ Draft contract for Google Book Search. Europe excluded from the Google Book Settlement except for Great Britain . Börsenblatt, November 14, 2009
  10. ↑ Jordan Mejias: Sleight of Hand . In: FAZ , November 15, 2009
  11. ↑ Gottfried Honnefelder : Revised Google Book Settlement with light and shadow . Börsenblatt, November 15, 2009
  12. ↑ Roland Reuss, Our culture is in danger , FAZ , April 25, 2009.
  13. ↑ Roland Reuß: Open Access as expropriation , udT A secret technocratic seizure of power also in: FAZ, February 11, 2009
  14. ↑ Volker Rieble , researchers are not normal employees . In: FAZ , April 29, 2009
  15. ↑ Michael Hagner : Open access as a dream of administrations . In: FAZ , May 6, 2009
  16. ↑ a b c Joint declaration of the scientific organizations on Open Access ( memento of March 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), March 25, 2009
  17. ↑ Uwe Jochum: In the name of freedom . Frankfurter Rundschau , April 7, 2009
  18. ↑ Roland Reuss, Our culture is in danger . In: FAZ , April 25, 2009
  19. ↑ For freedom of publication and the protection of copyrights. Retrieved December 13, 2009 .
  20. ↑ Jörg Sundermeier: To whom does world knowledge belong? In: Berliner Zeitung , May 18, 2009, p. 25
  21. ↑ Peter Glaser to Roland Reuss, published on April 20, 2009, Blog Stuttgarter Zeitung
  22. ↑ Action Alliance Copyright for Education and Science: What is freedom of science and publication worth to us? ... , press release, March 25, 2009
  23. ↑ Richard Sietmann: Open Access dispute - the second act ( Memento of 2 May 2009 at the Internet Archive ), c't magazine 29 April, 2009
  24. ↑ Peter Mühlbauer : Attack of the clueless. Telepolis , April 29, 2009
  25. ^ Mathias Bröckers : The end of the wrong way . Telepolis , May 13, 2009
  26. ^ Matthias Spielkamp, Open Excess: The Heidelberg Appeal . Pearl Divers , March 24, 2009
  27. ^ A b Matthias Spielkamp, ​​Florian Cramer: The authors will be strengthened! Frankfurter Rundschau , April 20, 2009.
    Spielkamp and Cramer agree with the supporters of the Heidelberg appeal that they consider patronizing academic authors to decide in favor of Open Access as a form of publication as devastating. (Florian Cramer, addendum to the article in the Frankfurter Rundschau, April 23, 2009 fr-online.de )
  28. ^ Hubertus coal, letter to the editor: What does not exist on the Internet will be lost (Archivalia) , FAZ, April 30, 2009, p. 35; Open Access and the Future of Scientific Publishing , Telepolis, May 11, 2009
  29. ↑ David Harnasch: The intellectual elite know nothing about the Internet . Tagesspiegel , June 4, 2009
  30. ↑ Google Books, Open Access and the Heidelberg Appeal: Ambiguity among the signatories . Telepolis , May 18, 2009. Peter Mühlbauer: Declaration of intent exegesis . Telepolis , May 18, 2009
  31. ^ Peter Mühlbauer: FAZ against market economy. How a neoclassical pricing model becomes an “appropriate participation” . New Monopoly Rights, Part 2. Telepolis , April 30, 2009
  32. ↑ Peter Mühlbauer: Contract pirates. The FAZ, which has been campaigning for new ancillary copyrights against “digital expropriation” for months, licensed texts by Elke Heidenreich without her knowledge and without financial participation . Telepolis , June 27, 2009
  33. ↑ Zypries supports the Heidelberg appeal of publishers and authors . ( Memento of January 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Federal Ministry of Justice , press release, April 24, 2009
  34. ↑ a b c Börsenblatt , April 30, 2009 boersenblatt.net
  35. ↑ picture , April 26, 2009
  36. ↑ Börsenblatt, April 28, 2009 ( online )
  37. ^ A b c Daniel Delhaes and Hans-Peter Siebenhaar, Internet library: Neumann puts pressure on Google , Handelsblatt , June 2, 2009
  38. ↑ VG Wort : Information on the Google Book Search Comparison ( Memento from August 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  39. ↑ Verlag CH Beck refuses to go to Google . welt.de , May 27, 2009
  40. ↑ dpa , May 6, 2009 ( online )
  41. ↑ https://www.boersenblatt.net/2009-05-29-artikel-zypries_ sucht_europaeisches_vorfahren_gegen_google_books- urübersrecht.322717.html
  42. ↑ Roland Reuss, Volker Rieble (Ed.): Authorship as a rule in the digital age . Frankfurt am Main 2009: Klostermann PDF
  43. ↑ Uwe Jochum: The sovereign . Libreas, 15, 2009, addendum ib.hu-berlin.de ( Memento from September 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  44. ↑ Roger Cloes, Christopher Schappert: The pros and cons of the copyright discussion in connection with the "Heidelberger Appell". Google Book Search and Open Access . ( Memento of August 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 126 kB) Scientific services of the German Bundestag
  45. ↑ Scientific services of the Bundestag see advantages in the Google book search and consider the Heidelberg appeal to be excessive . Literaturcafe.de
  46. ↑ Google: concessions to European publishers? Focus, September 7, 2009
  47. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20091117172939/http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/Supplemental-Notice.pdf

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