The Elsevier "open access" / exclusive license to publish hybrid

Elsevier has come up with a twist on open access licensing that should give pause to advocates of equating open access with particular Creative Commons licenses such as CC-BY, that is, a version of what they call "open access" that involves an exclusive license to publish.

In Elsevier's own words, from Elsevier Connect:

"for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf"

This post is part of the Creative Commons and Open Access critique series. 

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf

for open access articles we use an exclusive licensing agreement, which applies to all our Gold Open Access content. While granting publishing and distribution rights to us, this exclusive licensing agreement means that authors retain copyright alongside the scholarly usage rights we have always supported. - See more at: http://elsevierconnect.com/what-changes-when-publishing-open-access-understanding-the-fine-print/#sthash.dTcOLuCV.dpuf