“As a freelance science writer, I am quite often confronted with 'closed doors' or unduly high paywalls during my literature research. Lacking institutional affiliations, freelancers have to either refrain from thorough research or obtain the necessary literature by dubious means. I am member of the steering board of the Coalition because I want to work towards a copyright law that releases freelance science writers from this dilemma.”

“The last major change to the copyright law took place in 1966 and significantly weakened the legal position of the author in relation to the publisher. In the field of science this can be seen in contracts such as 'Copyright Transfer Agreements', with which especially transnationally established publishers and those specializing in science media have the authors' exploitation rights exclusively transferred to them to the maximum extent and relating to each element of the work. This situation is unbalanced and constitutes a strong hindrance to science communication. In copyright law, science authors as creators in particular, but also as users of works, ought to be given more privileges again.”

“As a professional scientist, external to a University, I am asked by scientific publishers and academic hiring committees to act as referee, of course on a honorary basis. For this I have to skim through several to many scientific papers for each referee report. But the commercial publishers insist that I pay about 30,- Euro for each (!) article to look through. Thus they obstruct the necessary work of refereeing from which they then profit by claiming a reputation as publishing a refereed journal.”

The Coalition for Action is based on the Göttingen Declaration which was signed since 2004 by research organizations, professional societies, institutions and individuals. _{[list of signatories]}

The signatories meet once a year to elect the steering board, which in turn elects the board of speakers from their midst. _[contact]