Copyright and other impediments to scientific communication

Scientists seldom receive royalties for the publication of their scientific results (except in textbooks), and much research and publication is supported directly or indirectly by government funds. Nevertheless, xerographic reproduction of scientific papers in copyrighted journals is often restricted by publishers. In effect, [pre-1978] copyright protection is seen as publisher rather than author protection. The problem is intertwined with economic considerations, but one partial solution might be to require government-grant recipients to use freely copyable journals when publishing their results.