The mechanism of becoming open access via a legal loophole was quite interesting. From the article: “The author of a popular organic chemistry textbook is maki

The mechanism of becoming open access via a legal loophole was quite interesting. From the article: “The author of a popular organic chemistry textbook is making it freely available to students after learning about a loophole in his copyright agreement with the publisher. “John McMurry’s Organic Chemistry has been one of the best selling chemistry textbooks since it was first printed in 1984. Under his agreement with Cengage Learning, the book’s publisher, McMurry realised he could ask for the book’s copyright to be returned to him 30 years after it was first printed. Without copyright of the first edition, the publisher is unable to produce any more new editions, McMurry notes. “McMurry, an emeritus professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, US, says the move was a tribute to his son who passed away from cystic fibrosis three years ago.”