Here is a site you may wish to share with your researchers.
Creative Commons now (as of January 1, 2005) has Science Commons http://science.creativecommons.org/ . Its mission is: "to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science Commons works within current copyright and patent law to promote legal and technical mechanisms that remove barriers to sharing."