ResearchGate, a popular networking platform where scientists can post their published work, has a complicated relationship with academic publishers. A number of them have accused the site of illicitly disseminating copyrighted work, and two of these—Elsevier and the American Chemical Society—filed a lawsuit in Germany last year to try to force ResearchGate to change its practices.
The pair has now escalated the legal battle by pursing a second case in the United States. At the same time, some publishers have opted for different approach: choosing to collaboratively address copyright issues with the platform rather than fighting it in court.
“We feel that [ResearchGate] should take responsibility for what they upload and what they allow users to upload,” says James Milne, the spokesperson for the Coalition for Responsible Sharing, a group of publishers that have taken an adversarial stance against ResearchGate. “Their view is, I believe, that they feel that they are just a platform and they have no responsibilities in that context. That’s something that we disagree with.”
ResearchGate, which is a Berlin-based for-profit firm, boasts more than 15 million members and has received millions of dollars in funding from a variety of investors such as the Wellcome Trust, Bill Gates, and Goldman Sachs. Researchers can join the social networking site for free.
