<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Manon Ress</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:manon.ress@keionline.org">manon.ress@keionline.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 4:46 AM<br>Subject: [A2k] Jon Marcus: Copyright battles break out in North America<br>To: a2k discuss list <<a href="mailto:a2k@lists.keionline.org">a2k@lists.keionline.org</a>><br><br><br>
Copyright battles break out in North America<br>
18 August 2011<br>
By Jon Marcus<br>
<a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=417143&c=1" target="_blank">http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=417143&c=1</a><br>
<br>
Canadian universities in row over licensing fees as US awaits fair-use<br>
ruling. Jon Marcus reports<br>
<br>
Disputes in Canada and the US are fuelling close scrutiny of the use<br>
of copyrighted material, with the outcomes threatening to increase the<br>
burden on academics.<br>
<br>
Universities in Canada have broken away from the main copyright<br>
clearing house, which grants permission for use, in a battle over fees<br>
for online content.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, a federal court in the US is poised to rule in a<br>
precedent-setting case brought by publishers against a university they<br>
say has exceeded fair use of their material.<br>
<br>
"We are seeing people using more content in a digital environment,"<br>
explained Roanie Levy, an intellectual property lawyer and director of<br>
Access Copyright, which licenses copyrighted material and has proposed<br>
a significant increase in its tariff. "It's starting to play out as an<br>
issue that's being dealt with around the world," he added.<br>
<br>
Begun in the days of the photocopied course pack, licensing agreements<br>
between universities and clearing houses such as Access Copyright cost<br>
universities in Canada C$3.39 (£2.11) per full-time student, plus 10<br>
cents per copied page.<br>
<br>
This adds up to about C$18 per student, depending on the discipline and level.<br>
<br>
In exchange, the universities are allowed to post copyrighted works on<br>
course websites and make copies of published works for distribution to<br>
students.<br>
<br>
But with digital technology now allowing material to be used in a<br>
variety of new ways, Access Copyright wants to raise its rate to C$45<br>
per student.<br>
<br>
Cash-strapped universities have baulked. At least 14 of Canada's 25<br>
largest universities have chosen to break with Access Copyright.<br>
Instead, they intend to seek permission directly from publishers while<br>
also making fewer copies of material.<br>
<br>
The break was started by the University of Calgary, where Thomas<br>
Hickerson, university librarian, calculates that its annual payments<br>
to Access Copyright would have increased from C$300,000 to C$1.3<br>
million under the new tariffs.<br>
<br>
"Very few universities have to this point agreed to it," said Mr<br>
Hickerson, who added that the universities also object to letting<br>
Access Copyright audit faculty and course websites to be sure they are<br>
in compliance, as it has demanded.<br>
<br>
As for lecturers, they are "caught in the middle", according to James<br>
Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University<br>
Teachers. "You (will now) have to upload your material and make sure<br>
you have copyright for the material you want to use."<br>
<br>
But he agrees that the new rates are unreasonable. "It's exactly the<br>
time they should be lowering the prices, not raising them."<br>
<br>
Ms Levy said that it would be easier and cheaper for universities to<br>
work with her agency. She also questioned the motives of universities:<br>
"Either they're going to take on the expense if they're truly going to<br>
respect copyright, which will create an incredible bottleneck for<br>
professors and students and ultimately cost more than the tariff, or<br>
they will turn a blind eye to copyright infringement," she said.<br>
<br>
In the US, meanwhile, a court case has been brought by Cambridge<br>
University Press, Oxford University Press and SAGE Publications<br>
against Georgia State University, which is accused of distributing "a<br>
vast amount" of material without permission.<br>
<br>
The publishers say the electronic distribution of books and journals<br>
is devastating academic presses, which depend on the revenues to<br>
support scholarly publishing.<br>
<br>
Universities argue that existing US law allows for the duplication of<br>
limited amounts of copyrighted material for educational purposes.<br>
<br>
But in the face of legal action, Georgia State and others have now<br>
changed their policies by providing "fair-use checklists" to ensure<br>
that permission is always obtained.<br>
<br>
The outcome of the court case, expected in the autumn, is awaited with interest.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Manon Anne Ress<br>
Knowledge Ecology International<br>
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 500<br>
Washington, DC 20009 USA<br>
<a href="http://www.keionline.org" target="_blank">http://www.keionline.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:manon.ress@keionline.org">manon.ress@keionline.org</a><br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
A2k mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:A2k@lists.keionline.org">A2k@lists.keionline.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.keionline.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k_lists.keionline.org" target="_blank">http://lists.keionline.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k_lists.keionline.org</a><br>
</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div><br></div><div><span style="font-weight:800"><br></span></div><b>Carolina Rossini</b><br><font color="#333333">Co-coordinator: OER-Brazil<br><a href="http://www.rea.net.br" target="_blank">www.rea.net.br</a><br>
+ 1 6176979389</font><br><font color="#000099">*<a href="mailto:carolina.rossini@gmail.com" target="_blank">carolina.rossini@gmail.com</a>*</font><br><br>