Scientific integrity is protected not by copyright law, but by the norms, standards and processes of the scientific community. An article is only "stolen" from an author if it is mis-attributed. This is fraud, and laws other than copyright deal with fraud. It is exceptionally rare for a scientific publisher to use copyright law to defend the integrity of a scientific paper on behalf of an author. In fact BioMed Central knows of no situation where this has happened. The "scientific integrity" argument simply provides a convenient excuse, which is used by traditional publishers to attempt to justify their requirement for transfer of copyright. Meanwhile, the real reason for copyright transfer is clear. Publishers regularly use copyright law to protect the profits they derive by controlling access to the literature. For example, in ongoing litigation, Elsevier and Wiley are suing various US photocopying firms for, amongst other things, including copies of research articles in student course-packs without paying royalties to the publisher.