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A hotly contested copyright law adopted this month by Germany's Parliament gives universities and research institutions considerable leeway to digitally distribute copyrighted materials among students and scholars without paying extra charges. The law has been welcomed by academics. But academic publishers, who fought the bill, say it will force them out of business.
The bill was designed to bring German law in line with a two- year-old European Union directive covering a wide range of digital- copyright issues. But the directive is silent on the issue of copyright exemptions for education and research. Publishers say they will challenge the new legislation with European authorities in Brussels.
In effect, the law grants exemptions from copyright...