Last month a group of US physicists challenged copyright regulations that placed restriction on sharing their work.

A group of physicists last month challenged the American Physical Society after the APS withdrew two articles, the authors of which indicated an intention to publish some of the work on online-encyclopaedia Wikipedia

The scientists feel that such strict copyright rules place unreasonable restrictions on scientists who want to diseminate their work to as broad an audience as they can. Many scientists include elements of their work in blogs, messageboards, forums, and open information outlets such as Wikipedia. The scientists assert that they should not be forced to choose between publishing in respected peer-reviewed journals and sharing their findings with the public. "It is unreasonable and completely at odds with the practice in the field. Scientists want as broad an audience for their papers as possible," says Bill Unruh at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, quoted in New Scientist, who has also lobbied against such strict copyright rules.

The APS insists that copyright is transferred to them prior to publication in their journals, something the group of physicists want changed. The UK's national academy of science, the Royal Society, while requesting transfer of copyright to them prior to publication, allows authors to publish their works online under a Creative Commons agreement.