including the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the AEC. The practice is so firmly established in the DOD that standardized contractual clauses are provided in the Armed Services Procurement Regulations. It is so well established in the AEC that six open-end monograph series and many independent textbooks, treatises, and handbooks (totaling well over 100 titles) have been published by contractors and grantees over the past fifteen years. Indeed, the AEC pioneered this kind of commercial publishing when in 1946 it authorized Prof. Henry D. Smyth to write his famous report, Atomic Energy for Military Purposes, and to publish it in a copyrighted commercial edition simultaneously with a GPO printing. The report proved to be a great interest internationally, and in spite of a substantially higher price, the commercial edition (published by the Princeton University Press) outsold the other by a wide margin— 125,000 to 40,000 copies. The GPO edition, last reprinted in 1950, is now out of print, but the Princeton edition is still in print and in steady demand.

So far as we know, neither the propriety nor the legality of a private copyright secured by explicit agreement under a Government contract or grant has ever been questioned by an official in the executive branch or by a member of the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing, which is responsible for the operations of the GPO.

The advantages to the Government of commerical publication of works in this category are usually the same as those cited for the first category, plus three additional ones that are of some importance:

1. The Government often acquires free copies of the commercial edition for its own use and/or royalty payments that offset a good part of its expense in the venture.

2. The prospect of private income to the author allows the Government to negotiate more favorable terms for the performance of the writing task.

3. The prospect of commercial publication under a recognized inprint attracts writers of higher caliber.

Placing works of this kind in the public domain can ensure printing by the GPO only, with consequent loss of all advantages cited. Indeed, we think it can be safely predicted that many first-class writers and editors will lose interest in producing works for the Government if the requirement of public domain and the prospect of GPO printing are imposed upon them.

REPORTS ON RESEARCH

Many reports produced in fulfillment of Government-financed research projects have been copyrighted and commercially published by contractors or grantees under prearranged terms and conditions. In most of these cases, the right of publication has been an added attraction to the persons or firms undertaking the research projects. The advantages of private publication are the same as those stated for the foregoing category of publication: the disadvantages of public domain are also the same.

It should be further noted that private publication of research reports in no way restricts the fullest possible use of research results as reported.

TEXTBOOKS AND ASSOCIATED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Government-sponsored textbooks and instructional materials have publishing characteristics that differ in several respects from those of the first three categories:

1. They must find their place in highly competitive markets. Hence they must be priced competitively yet must bear a heavy freight of promotional and teacher-service costs (sample copies for adoption, desk copies after adoption, teacher's manuals, solution manuals, etc., all usually supplied free).

2. They involve the publisher in larger professional efforts and in higher costs required for editorial perfection and classroom testing. (Here the publisher's contribution goes far beyond the mere editing of a finished manuscript for style and accuracy; it entails assistance with substantive content and structure, and with instructional philosophy and classroom method as well.) Indeed, the publisher's editorial expense may be larger than the Government's contribution to the cost of the finished manuscript. Owing to his high initial cost, the publisher often does no better than break even on the first edition, and in some cases he suffers a loss. Successful second and third editions must be depended upon for realization of profit.

3. A successful textbook is usually the product of an ongoing partnership in which the author has continuing professional and proprietary interests. A textbook manuscript is the product not only of the time and effort required to write it but of the author's total professional training and teaching experience as well. His reputation as a scientist and teacher, and often his experience and reputation as an author of other books, are added ingredients. Thus the author's contribution to a successful text is far more than the actual time and effort required to produce a manuscript. Yet under a Government contract or grant he is usually paid for that time and effort only. So it is that the author often feels (and rightly, we think) that though the manuscript as a physical property belongs to the Government (or to its contracting agency), its style, its methodology, its scholarship, and its authority are still his own. He feels that though the Government has clear legal rights in the manuscript, he still has certain professional and proprietary rights in it. Further he usually feels a deep and continuing concern that the integrity of his work shall not be compromised either before or after publication.

The fact that many authors and contributors to curriculum projects are vitally concerned about this matter is illustrated by the following letter that appeared in a recent (Jan. 21, 1966) issue of Science. It expresses the views of an eminent educator who has made significant contributions to the development of Government-sponsored curriculum materials:

The U.S. Office of Education has recently ruled that materials produced by its grantees are not to be copyrighted but are to be placed in the public domain. Although the clear intent of the regulation is to serve the public interest, it appears likely that, in practice, it will have the opposite effect.

What are the probable effects of this new regulation on the future production and dissemination of curriculum materials similar to those, for example, prepared

recently by the secondary school science projects in biology, chemistry, geology and physics, which have been quite widely regarded as of great public value? (I am not concerned here with the effect of the regulation on studies of primarily technical or academic interest). If a USOE grantee were to produce a manuscript for a good chemistry textbook that could not be copyrighted, the reaction of the major textbook publishers would be, I believe, generally negative. An ethical publisher might acknowledge the excellence of the new text and might recognize how satisfactorily it could supplement his line of textbooks. But he would realize that the same materials could also be published by any other publisher, with or without change, and perhaps more rapidly and cheaply. Thus, he might well decide that his necessarily extensive investment in such a book, for careful editing, preparation of illustrations, training of salesmen, a national advertising, and printing and distribution, would place him at a competitive disadvantage with respect to other publishers who might use the same materials with a minimum investment. It appears probable that contemporary public domain materials would be ignored by the more substantial publishers who have full facilities for national distribution, and might even be considered too risky by virtually all publishers.

But there is a more fundamental consideration. Such materials as these do not emerge simply as the result of a grant; they depend also on the creative efforts of scholars and writers. They have an intellectual as well as a fiscal component. Surely the traditional rights of an author should not be summarily discarded simply because his work promises to be of public benefit and has therefore been judged worthy of support from public funds.

The director of a curriculum project supported by the Office of Education may find it difficult to recruit writers who are seriously interested in producing new curriculum materials for our schools, if they are aware of the possible effects of the public domain policy on their efforts. They would realize that their materials might never be published and made available for use in the schools; that their carefully devised themes and logical presentations could be altered at will by editors and publishers; that they might be completely excluded from the opportunity to revise their original ideas on the basis of actual use in the schools. It seems clear to me that the public domain policy of the Office of Education requires further study. Execution of the policy should be postponed until it is abundantly clear that it is not contrary to the public interest.-ARNOLD B. GROB

MAN.

(Reproduced with permission of Arnold Grobman and Science.)

In consideration of all these factors and attitudes, it seems that in financing a textbook project, the sponsoring Government agency has an obligation to:

1. Recognize the partnership nature of the undertaking and the fact that Government funds support only a portion of the true cost. Private contributions are substantial in every case.

2. Recognize that the perfecting of a textbook usually requires the production of two or three editions and that full value is not returned on the Government's initial "seed money" investment unless revisions are provided for in one way or another.

3. Recognize the author's professional and proprietary interests in the first edition, and provide sufficient incentive for his continued engagement in one or more revisions.

4. Recognize the author's concern for the integrity of his published work, and provide reasonable protection thereof.

5. Recognize that the publisher who makes substantial investments in editorial and promotion expense usually needs to produce at least two editions in order to realize an acceptable profit.

6. Recognize that once a work has been placed in the public domain, there can be no control whatever over the form or manner in which it is henceforth reproduced and used.

Since there has been some misunderstanding in certain Government agencies of the foregoing final point, and since this point is closely

related to the author's concern for the integrity of his published work, it may be well to suggest why this matter is of considerable importance to Government agencies and authors alike.

For example, when a work has been placed in the public domain it can be republished under the author's name with additions, deletions, or revisions made by anyone who chooses to do so, provided that the title page carries a notice as "Revised by John Doe" or "With Additions by John Doe."

For example, the work can be republished under the author's name with the substitutions of a new set of problems, provided that the title page carries a notice such as "With Problems Added by John Doe." Further, John Doe can legitimately put his own copyright notice on such a republished edition.

For example, a printer can produce an offset edition of the original work, reproducing exactly the original indicia (including the publisher's imprint and copyright notice), provided that the title page or cover carry a printed notice "Distributed by John Doe, Printer."

For example, a translated edition can be freely produced by anyone in any language of any foreign country of the world. There can be no effective control of the quality of translations; such control is possible only when a work is protected under one of the international copyright conventions, and this protection is lost when domestic copyright is forfeited. In many foreign countries an inferior translation can be produced and widely sold by a privileged person under the patronage of a ministry of education or a state school system. In other countries, several translated editions can be produced for a market that will support only one. This situation usually results in an initial glut of hastily produced low-quality books but no continuing supply of any

kind.

CONCLUSIONS

Since it is inevitable that the Government will sponsor and finance (either wholly or in part) an increasing number and variety of commercially publishable works, and since the problems of copyright and the public interest differ with each publication, it seems unwise for any Federal agency to establish a blanket policy that places all works in the public domain. We are convinced that such a policy is against rather than for the public interest. We think that every agency should have a policy under which qualified officers may decide for or against commercial publication of each separate project or program in terms of Government benefit and the public interest.

It may be reasonable in some cases to require the commercial publisher to abandon his copyright and place a Government-sponsored work in the public domain, but this should be done only after:

1. The publisher has had time to make sufficient sales to realize a reasonable profit in terms of his investment, his risk, and his contribution to editorial quality.

2. The author has had time to realize an adequate return from royalty in cases where anticipated royalty is a consideration in his total compensation for work performed and for knowledge contributed to the job.

3. The owner of the private copyright has allowed the work to go out of print.

Several considerations should enter into a determination of the time span allowed for each copyright agreement:

1. The potential market, the price, the manufacturing cost, the publisher's editorial and sales costs, the rate of royalty paid the author and/or the Government, and the prime life span of the subject content of the book. From five to fifteen or twenty years should be appropriate for works that will not be revised.

2. The time span needed (a) to establish a text as a teaching tool and an educational influence to the satisfaction of the author and to a proper fulfillment of the Government's objectives, (b) to provide the publisher and the author sufficient incentives to perfect and establish a text through the production of two or three editions, and (c) to prevent undesirable exploitation of new texts through revised or disguised editions produced under the author's name and the publisher's imprint. Usually two editions of a college text and three editions of a text for elementary or high schools, with a minimal period of ten years in either case, would be needed to meet this requirement.

For each new publishing project, all these considerations should be subject to negotiation between the responsible Government agency, its contracting agent (if any), and the authors and the interested publishers.

GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED WORKS PUBLISHED BY MCGRAW-HILL AND PRIVATELY COPYRIGHTED

Category 1. Reports of Commissions, Committees, Etc.

Civil Aviation. A report by the Joint Committee on Civil Aviation of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Engineering Council. Copyright. American Engineering Council, 1926.

Recent Social Trends in the United States. 2 volumes and 13 specialized monographs. Copyright, President's Research Committee on Social Trends, 1933. Recent Economic Changes in the United States. 2 volumes. Copyright, President's Conference on Unemployment, 1930.

Air Pollution. Proceedings of the United States Technical Conference on Air Pollution. Louis C. McCabe (Ed.), U.S. Bureau of Mines. Sponsored by the Interdepartmental Committee on Air Pollution, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1952.

Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. Charles N. Cofer (Ed.), University of California at Berkeley. Proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and New York University in 1959. Copyright, McGrawHill, 1961.

Vigilance: A Symposium. Donald N. Buckner and James J. McGrath (Eds.), Human Factors Research, Inc. Office of Naval Research contract. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1963.

Verbal Behavior and Learning: Problems and Processes. Charles N. Cofer, and Barbara S. Musgrave (Eds.), Office of Naval Research contract with New York University. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1963.

Category 2. Works Written or Edited for Hire

The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Marvin W. McFarland (Ed.). 2 volumes sponsored by Oberlin College on the Wilbur-Orville Wright Memorial Fund and prepared for the press with notes, appendices, and bibliography by the Aeronautics Division of the Library of Congress. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1953.

Tables of Integral Transforms. A. Erdelyi (Ed.), The California Institute of Technology. 2 volumes. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1954.

Higher Transcendental Functions. A. Erdelyi (Ed.), The California Institute of Technology. 3 volumes. Copyright, McGraw-Hill, 1955.