Transcript Copyright in Online Resources OUCS Rowan Wilson February …

Copyright in Online Resources
A course for content authors
OUCS
Rowan Wilson
February 2009
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
CAUTION!

I am not a lawyer

This talk is focused on electronic resources

This talk is focused on Higher Education
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A lot of material – some of it tedious
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors

What intellectual property is
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What copyright is
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How copyright is licensed
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What your employer claims of your work
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What practical steps to take in order to avoid unauthorised reuse while
benefiting from internet publication

What Fair Dealing is

What Creative Commons is
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is intellectual property?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
“Intellectual Property (IP) is created
when an idea takes some tangible
form. IP can mean a brand, invention,
design or other kind of creation and it
can be legally owned..”
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Does Intellectual Property = Property?
The owner of intellectual property has rights over it
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Intellectual property law protects those rights
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Intellectual property rights come in two types: registered or
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unregistered
There are many kinds of intellectual property
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Other Varieties of Intellectual Property Include...
Patents – protect inventions
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Trademarks – protect identifiers used by businesses
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Database Rights – protect collections of data
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Design Rights – protect the shape and design of products
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Copyright...
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is copyright?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Copyright...
is a form of intellectual property
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is an unregistered right – it comes into existence at the same time that the work is
'fixed'
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protects the 'fixed' form of an idea, not the idea itself
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protects literary and artistic material, music, films, sound recordings and
broadcasts, including software and multimedia
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generally does not protect works that are 'insubstantial' – thus names and titles are
not protected (although a 'passing off' action may be a possibility)
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gives the author exclusive economic and moral rights over the copyrighted
material
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What exclusive economic rights do authors have?
Making copies
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Issuing copies to the public (publication, performing,
broadcasting, online distribution)
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Renting or lending copies
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Adapting the work
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What exclusive moral rights do authors have?
to be identified as the author of the work
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to object to derogatory treatment of the work which would prejudicial to the honour
or reputation of the author
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to not be falsely identified as the author of a work
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Though do note:
Moral rights must be asserted formally to anyone who receives the work
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Moral rights can be waived
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Computer programs, newspaper and magazine articles and material in reference
works such as dictionaries do not come with moral rights
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What if I'm employed to create copyright material?
Your employment contract will govern who owns the copyright, although the
default position will be that your employer does
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For University of Oxford employees the position is spelled out in the University
Statutes XVI part b (covered later)
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Even works created outside working hours may be owned by your employer if they
are of the same general type as you are employed to create
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Beware! If you bring in contractors or consultants they will by default own the
copyright in their work unless the contract you arrange says otherwise
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
When does copyright expire under UK law?
For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, 70 years after the death of the author
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For films, the 70 years after the last death of principal director, the authors of the screenplay
and dialogue, and the composer of any music specially created for the film
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For sound recordings, 50 years after the year or production or the year of publication,
whichever is later
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For broadcasts, 50 years after first broadcast
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For the layout of publications, 25 years after publication
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Note: all terms calculated from the end of the year in question
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Also note: The duration of copyright protection has changed several times over the last
decades, meaning that some authors have enjoyed renewed copyright.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Is my copyright protected internationally?
Each country has its own intellectual property law, and these can differ quite
considerably.
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However, international treaties, such as the 1886 Berne Convention and the 1994
TRIPS Agreement, attempt to standardise the treatment of IP globally, providing similar
protections to authors in each signatory country.
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Signatory nations have a responsibility to alter their national law to reflect the treaty's
requirements (although it took the UK just over 100 years to do so in the case of the
Berne Convention).
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Despite the existence of such treaties, taking effective action against a foreign infringer
is still very likely to mean bringing an action in their local court system.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
So what can I do with my copyright?
You can sell it – although any moral rights will always
remain with you the original author unless you waive them
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You can license it...
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
How is copyright licensed?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What's a copyright licence and how do I get or give
one?
A copyright licence is an agreement between a copyright owner (licensor) and another
person or group (the licensee)
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This agreement permits the licensee to do things which would otherwise be protected
actions under intellectual property law
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Thus a copyright licence might permit the licensee to copy the work, communicate it to
the public, adapt it or perform it (or any combination of those)
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The terms of copyright licences typically limit elements like the duration or the
geographical extent of the grant of rights
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Copyright licences can be exclusive or non-exclusive
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The Creative Commons project provides ready-made copyright licences that may be
suitable for your needs
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What does your employer
claim of your work?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
How does the University claim rights to work?
Employment and studentship agreements 'import' the statutes of the University of
Oxford
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Signature of such agreements indicates assent to the statutes
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The statutes cover many topics including IP:
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www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/790-121.shtml
The statutes lay out whose work is claimed, and the varieties of work that are claimed.
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For a work to be claimed it must be both of the prescribed kind and created by a
prescribed kind of individual (and not specifically excluded).
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Assent to the statutes includes assent to sign any necessary additional licences
required by the University
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Whose work is claimed?
Employees creating © work in the course of their employment
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Students creating © work in the course of (or incidentally to) their
studies
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Anyone else who, “as a condition of their being granted access to the
University's premises or facilities” has agreed in writing to be bound
by the IP statutes
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Contractors creating © work during the course of (or incidentally to)
their contracted work
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What kinds of work are claimed?
(1) works generated by computer hardware or software owned or operated by the
University;
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(2) films, videos, multimedia works, typographical arrangements, field and laboratory
notebooks, and other works created with the aid of university facilities;
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(3) patentable and non-patentable inventions;
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(4) registered and unregistered designs, plant varieties, and topographies;
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(5) university-commissioned works not within (1), (2), (3), or (4);
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(6) databases, computer software, firmware, courseware, and related material not within (1),
(2), (3), (4), or (5), but only if they may reasonably be considered to possess commercial
potential; and
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(7) know-how and information associated with the above.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What kinds of work are not claimed (even if they are caught in the definitions on
the previous page)?
artistic works, books, articles, plays, lyrics, scores, or lectures, apart
from those specifically commissioned by the University;
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audio or visual aids to the giving of lectures; or
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computer-related works other than those specified on the previous
page
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What does “specifically commissioned by the
University” mean?
“works which the University has specifically employed or
requested the person concerned to produce, whether in
return for special payment or not”
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Excludes works commissioned by Oxford University
Press, for which separate agreements are likely to be
made
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Practical Steps For Internet
Publication
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What am I impliedly permitting by placing my material on the internet?
Making material available on a publicly accessible web site would strongly imply
universal permission to perform the restricted activities necessary to view it; for
example making a copy in memory on a client machine and storing the material in a
disk cache for easy recall.
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Posting to a mailing list would also probably imply permission to reproduce your
material in replies to that mailing list via quotation
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Placing material on the internet does not imply the granting of permission to adapt,
distribute or copy the work for other purposes
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There is a common misapprehension that the internet is somehow a gateway to the
'Public Domain'. In fact in UK law there is no such thing as the 'Public Domain'.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
How can I protect my material from unauthorised use?
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There is no complete protection, but this is also true in the analogue domain
Mark your work prominently with your name, the date of composition and a
© symbol. This makes it harder for infringers to argue that they could not
identify the author or the material as © protected
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Consider making some kind of contact information available such as an
institution, agent or email address (although in the latter case make sure you
obfuscate it to prevent spammer harvesting).
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Consider making your copyright statement a link to a list of terms and
conditions
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Consider use of an informal copyright registry here in the UK or formal
registries abroad
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
How can I protect my material from unauthorised use? (continued)
Consider metadata schemas that digitally expose the rights status of material, such
as Authena. Such schemes are known as Digital Rights Management or DRM
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Consider more robust Technological Protection Methods (TPMs) for example Adobe
Acrobat Security
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WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Performances and Phonograms
Treaty and its implementation in national laws (European Union Copyright Directive in
Europe, Digital Millennium Copyright Act in US) makes the circumvention of a TPM an
act of copyright violation in itself, even if no further copying, distribution or adaptation of
the protected material takes place
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However technological protection methods have - up to now - proved to be ineffective
at obstructing determined infringers.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
How can I detect online reuse of my material?
JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) fund a 'Plagiarism Advisory
Service':
www.jiscpas.ac.uk/
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Proprietary Institutional-Level services such as TurnItIn:
www.turnitin.com
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For personal purposes, Google can be used to search for uncommon
phrases that occur within your text (make sure you use quotes)
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Google alerts on uncommon phrases can take the work out of periodic
checking
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What do I do if someone seems to have infringed my copyright online?
Is the copying substantial? This must be judged in terms of both the quantity and
quality of the copied material
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Is the copying covered by the Fair Dealing exceptions (covered in next section)?
Is the material actually yours (it may be your employers job to take action)?
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If none of the above qualifications apply, try contacting the person responsible for the
material requesting that the infringing material be taken down
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You may also contact the service provider which hosts the material. For hosts based in
the US there is a formal 'takedown' procedure that is defined in the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, and many user-generated content sites such as Youtube provide online
mechanisms for issuing takedowns.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What do I do if someone seems to have infringed my copyright online?
(continued)
However, note that the details you provide in the takedown notice must be accurate
to the best of your ability. Carelessly or deliberately inaccurate notices can be a cause
of action in themselves
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In the UK, the The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 provide
take a slightly different approach, defining what a service provider must do to be
immune from copyright infringement action for acting as a 'mere conduit'.
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One of their responsibilities is to remove potentially infringing material in a timely way
when informed of its presence. If a UK-based service provider fails to remove such
material, the next step would be to seek an injunction via the courts.
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Many UK-based service providers have their own well-publicised takedown
procedures – check their sites.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
iTunes U Contributions
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Since 2008 Oxford has been making many kinds of audio and visual material
available via Apple’s iTunesU portal
Apple requires a non-exclusive licence from the contributor to make the material
available in this way
http://www.ox.ac.uk/itunes_u/contribute.html links to a form which needs to be
signed and submitted along with any iTunes U contribution.
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is 'Fair Dealing'?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is Fair Dealing?
Similar to the well-known phrase from US law 'Fair Use'
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'Fair Dealing' is a term which describes certain uses of a copyright work under certain
defined circumstances. Provided that these circumstances are in place, no permission
for this use is required from the copyright owner.
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The 'Fair Dealing' exceptions can be read in full in the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 (and subsequent amendments)
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Refer to the Act to find the precise detail of the exceptions, and for some others not
mentioned here
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Why is Fair Dealing important for authors?
It governs important creative activities such as quotation,
criticism and exam setting
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It governs what use others can make of your work
without seeking your permission
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What are the Fair Dealing exceptions?
Research and private study
A "reasonable proportion" of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work can be copied
provided that only one copy is made for non-commercial research
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Criticism, review and news reporting
any copyright material may be copied provided that acknowledgement of the source is
made in the resulting material (with the exception of sound recordings and film in used
current events reporting, where no acknowledgement is necessary)
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Photos are excluded from the current event reporting exception, acknowledged or not.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What are the Fair Dealing exceptions? (continued)
Things done for purposes of instruction or examination
Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works may be copied if the copying is done by the
instructor themselves and the method of reproduction is not reprographic (meaning
photocopying or scanning)
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Sound recordings and films may be copied if the copying is done by the instructor
themselves and the subject being taught is the making of films or film soundtracks
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Nearly all protected activities relating to setting questions for exams, making questions
available to examinees and answering those questions are permitted (only copying sheet
music for performance in an exam is not)
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Materials generated under this exception (things done for purposes of instruction or
examination) become infringing copies if they are subsequently sold, hired or
communicated to the public.
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What are the Fair Dealing exceptions? (continued)
Exceptions involving libraries and librarians
Librarians can make single copies of periodical articles
and sections from literary, dramatic or musical works for
library users provided that they are satisfied that the user
will be covered by the 'Research and Private Study'
exception (a statutory form of words exists which can be
obtained from the library in question and signed by the
library user).
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Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Anything else?
Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 amends the 1988 Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act to allow a visually impaired person to make and keep 'a single
accessible copy for personal use'. Certain approved organisations are also permitted to
make accessible copies of works and distribute them to visually impaired users.

In some circumstances the actions of a copyright holder may create an 'implied'
licence. For example, posting to a mailing list would almost certainly imply permission
from the author to the list subscribers to keep a local copy of the posting and quote it in
further postings of their own.

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is 'Creative Commons'?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What is Creative Commons Licensing?
Founded in 2001 by Prof Lawrence Lessig at the University of Stanford

Provides general, regionalised copyright licences for use by copyright
owners
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Creative Commons licences are permissive compared to a standard
commercial copyright licence

The Creative Commons web site provides a step-by-step guide to selecting
and applying a CC licence to your work

The aim of the Creative Commons project is to create a large body of
copyright work which can be easily adapted and reused
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The project was formed as a response to the perceived wasting away of the
concept of the 'public domain' under US law

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
What kinds of licences do Creative Commons provide?
All Creative Commons licences mandate attribution of
the copyright owner (Attribution)
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A CC licensor can specify that their work cannot be
copied or adapted for use in a commercial work (NonCommercial)
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A CC licensor can specify that any adaptations or copies
must be licensed under the same licence (Share-alike)
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A CC licensor can specify that no adaptations (derivative
works) may be made from their work (No Derivatives)

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
This leads to six possible combinations:
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Attribution alone (by)
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Attribution + Noncommercial (by-nc)
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Attribution + NoDerivs (by-nd)
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Attribution + ShareAlike (by-sa)
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Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivs (by-nc-nd)
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Attribution + Noncommercial + ShareAlike (by-nc-sa)
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Anything else?
Embedded RDF licence summaries allow search based
upon reuse possibilities
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Licences come with simple language summaries of their
terms

More licences...

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Anything else?
CC0 – a legal document that attempts to waive all IP
rights in a given work. In jurisdictions where this cannot be
achieved (like the UK) it falls back upon a broad nonexclusive worldwide licence for all.

CC+ - a dual-licensing mechanism in which a work is
advertised as being available under both a CC licence and
another, possibly more useful commercial licence.

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Anything else? (continued)
Science Commons – a project designed to increase the amount of
scientific data available for reuse.

ccLearn – a project attempting to lessen the legal, technical and
social barriers to sharing, adaptation and reuse of learning materials

CCREL (Creative Commons Rights Expression Language) – a
method of embedding licensing information in HTML and XML
documents

Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
The End
Questions or Discussion?
Copyright in Online Resources:
A Course For Content Authors
Links
UK Intellectual Property Office – http://www.ipo.gov.uk/home.htm
OULS Copyright FAQ - http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley/services/copy/copyright
University of Oxford Statues covering IP issues – http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/790-121.shtml
JISC Electronic Fair Dealing Guidelines – http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/pa/fair/intro.html
JISC Legal – http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/
Museums Copyright Org © Expiration Flowchart - http://www.museumscopyright.org.uk/private.pdf
The Society of Authors – http://www.societyofauthors.org/
Writers, Artists and Their Copyright Holders - www.watch-file.com
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 - http://www.ipo.gov.uk/cdpact1988.pdf
Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 - http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020033.htm
Copyright Licensing Agency - http://www.cla.co.uk/
Creative Commons – http://www.creativecommons.org
Authena - http://authena.org/
OSS Watch - http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk
Oxford’s iTunesU contribution guidelines: http://www.ox.ac.uk/itunes_u/contribute.html
This presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/crmwilson/copyright-in-online-resources-authors