Ascomycete.org offers its members access to a library of digitised documents (PDF format). It is an essential element in the dissemination of knowledge about the Ascomycota, by making accessible some works and publications that are often difficult to access, and sometimes out of print, to as many people as possible. Our aim is to facilitate research work in the field of systematics.
Our aim is not only to reference mycological works already available in other digital libraries, but also to offer our own documents.
Legislative constraints
The digitisation of publications cannot be carried out in complete freedom. There are laws and international conventions governing the principle of intellectual property. Scientific publications, like all intellectual works, fall within this scope. Their authors are therefore protected in various ways (economic rights, moral rights, etc.), as are their publishers. Only publications that have entered the public domain fall outside the scope of protection and can theoretically be used by anyone.
In practice, in France, a publication does not enter the public domain until 70 years after the author's death (the general rule). In some countries, this period is shortened (50 years) and sometimes extended to 100 years!
Any use of a publication in the interval following the death of the author (or authors in the case of joint publications) and preceding entry into the public domain must be the subject of a release of rights or explicit authorisation by the beneficiaries.
For more information: Authors' rights (Wikipedia)
What is Ascomycete.org's policy?
Unlike other organisations, our association complies with current legislation. It therefore has a policy of obtaining authorisation from authors or their successors in title to digitise free of charge and publish on its website publications that fall within the scope of intellectual property. This approach enables authors (or their successors) to retain their full rights.
Similar action is taken with publishers, with the aim of not infringing their economic interests. An authorisation agreement is therefore signed with the publisher to lay down the rules between the two parties. Here again, publishers' rights are maintained. To facilitate communication with foreign organisations, this agreement has been translated into English, German, Spanish and Italian.