The Royal Society is the UK academy of sciences, with its Fellowship drawn from the leading scientists of the day, elected by peer review for life. There are currently more than 60 Nobel Laureates amongst the Society’s approximately 1400 Fellows and Foreign Members.

The Society is independent of Government, as it has been throughout its existence, by virtue of its Royal charters. In 1663, the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge was granted its Arms and adopted its motto “Nullis in verba”, an expression of its enduring commitment to empirical evidence as the basis of knowledge about the natural world.

The Society has a long history of supporting the application of science, as well as encouraging science education and fundamental research. It has taken an active interesting the development of intellectual property (IP), particularly copyright and patents, and their role in encouraging dissemination and exploitation of ideas. However, it is also concerned that policies and mechanisms for the protection of IP at the sametime safeguard access to knowledge for the purposes of education, further research and critical appraisal of ideas. This includes ensuring that arrangements to protect IP do not hinder the archiving of copyright material. Thus while supporting developments to protect IP, it is concerned to ensure the maintenance of appropriate exceptions and exemptions to safeguard teaching, scholarship, criticism, research and library archiving.

The Society’s most recent report on IP issues  - Keeping science open (02/03) - can be downloaded from its website .   More recent comments are contained in the Society’s submission to the Gowers Review (27/06), which can also be downloaded from the website.