The more we understand about science and its complexities, the
more important it is for scientific data to be shared openly.
It’s not useful to have ten different labs doing the same
research and not sharing their results; likewise, we’re much
more likely to be able to pinpoint diseases if we have genomic
data from a large pool of individuals. Creative Commons Managing
copyright wisely can significantly enhance scientific endeavors.
Decisions about copyright can: - Provide the widest possible
freedom and flexibility for researchers and others to employ
their work for teaching, learning, and research in a fast-
changing technological environment. - Foster the
Constitutionally defined purpose of the copyright law--the
encouragement of learning--through the minimally constrained use
of copyrighted material in teaching, learning and research. The
fundamental business of the Woods Hole scientific community is
to create and share knowledge. However, the effective sharing of
knowledge is sometimes jeopardized in the