Steve sez, "Currently, the National Institutes of Health require NIH-funded research to be published in open-access repositories. In a cop to for-profit science publishers, Congressional Representative John Conyers (D-MI) has re-introduced a bill (HR801) that essentially would negate the NIH policy concerning depositing research in OA repositories. The bill goes further than prohibiting open access requirements, however, as the bill also prohibits government agencies from obtaining a license to publicly distribute, perform, or display such work by, for example, placing it on the Internet, and would repeal the longstanding 'federal purpose' doctrine, under which all federal agencies that fund the creation of a copyrighted work reserve the 'royalty-free, nonexclusive right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work' for any federal purpose. The bill is bad news."

Stand for Open Access, Oppose HR801

(Thanks, Steve!)