[A2k] Sen. Durbin Proposes $15 Million in Grants for Open Textbook Creators

[Meredith Filak]

from TechLaw:
http://pblog.bna.com/techlaw/2009/09/sen-durbin-proposes-15-million-in-grants-for-open-textbook-creators.html

Sen. Durbin Proposes $15 Million in Grants for Open Textbook Creators

Last week Sen. Richard Durbin introduced a bill (S. 1714) that would
create a $15 million federal grant program for "open textbooks." The
bill is a further example of continuing federal government interest in
openness, transparency, and using information-sharing technologies to
promote social aims.

Sen. Durbin is promoting his bill as a means to drive down the price of
college textbooks, but I think it is going to have more far-reaching
consequences than that. If it passes.

The bill defines "open textbook" as "a textbook or set of course
materials in electronic format designed for use in a college course at
an institution of higher education that is licensed under an open license."

New works and updates to existing works would be eligible for grants.

The bill defines "open license" as "an irrevocable intellectual property
license that grants the public the right to access, customize, and
distribute a copyrighted material."

Any college, and professor or group of professors, any for-profit or
non-profit organization may apply to the Secretary of Education for a
grant to produce open textbooks. It will be interesting to see how this
all plays out in the legal education market, particularly in the areas
of cyberlaw and intellectual property law where feelings about openness
run strong. A shot of federal grant money might be all it takes to spur
the development of new teaching materials from law clinics at Harvard or
Berkeley, or stimulate interest from an established, commercial
technology law publisher like MIT Press.

Grant-eligible teaching materials must be both "free as in freedom" and
"free as in beer." S. 1714 provides that the "full and complete digital
content of each open textbook" must be "made available free of charge
to, and may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or otherwise
altered by, any member of the general public."

The message to entrepreneurs is this: If you'd like to take the big
textbook publishers down, the federal government might be willing to
lend a hand. The hard part will be making a buck in the process.

--

Meredith Filak
Research Associate, Intellectual Property Policy Committee
Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue
W: +1.202.332.2670
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