Detailed Summary

Open College Textbook Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive one-year grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs), professors from IHEs, and producers of open textbooks to create or update open textbooks, or adapt textbooks into open formats, for postsecondary coursework. (Open textbooks are defined as college textbooks or course materials in electronic format that are licensed under an open license, which is an irrevocable intellectual property license that grants the public the right to access, customize, and distribute copyrighted material.)

Requires such textbooks to be posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website and made available to the public free of charge.

Directs the Secretary to develop a peer review and evaluation process to ensure that these textbooks are of the highest quality, accurate in content, and meet or exceed market quality and accessibility standards.

Requires all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational materials created through federal grants to be licensed under an open license, posted on an easily accessible and interoperable website, and made available to the public free of charge.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that IHEs should encourage professors to consider open textbooks within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom which give faculty the right and responsibility to select pedagogically appropriate coursework.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 9/24/2009: Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Points in Favor

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Points Against

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