Colleges, Code, and Copyright

The bottom line on copyright at academic institutions is still education. That was certainly the message received during the 2-day June 2004 University of Maryland University College conference called "Colleges, Code, and Copyright: The Impact of Digital Networks and Technological Controls on Copyright

and the Dissemination of Information in Higher Education." The conference was sponsored by the Center for Intellectual Property and Copyright in the digital environment. An interesting array of speakers dealt with topics like framing the issue in copyright and higher education, peer-to-peer file sharing, legislative issues, models for scholarly publishing, strategies for dealing with copyright infringement, and best practices in digital rights management (DRM) systems.

Donna Ferullo, director of the University Copyright Office at Purdue University Libraries, was one of the initial speakers. She spoke about the struggles of developing and implementing an institutionwide copyright policy. Policies are now more important than ever to meet the requirements of certain U.S. legislation like the TEACH Act, which allows for certain free uses of copyright-protected materials for distance learning. There was much discussion about DRM and its positive and negative roles in higher education. Generally, concerns were voiced about the restrictive nature of DRMs and how they might limit fair use, while others spoke about the positive side of DRMs and how they could make rights clearances more efficient. Clifford Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information, gave a keynote that was "key" in discussing the advantages and disadvantages of DRM in higher education.

Kenneth Crews, from the IUPUI Copyright Management Center, emphasized that higher education institutions often lack even basic comprehensible information on copyright law. He also pointed to the fact that copyright law is so ambiguous that if you ask 20 people for an interpretation of many provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act, you are likely to obtain 30 different answers. Again, copyright policies may help prevent each institution from having its own interpretations of the law in its particular context.

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The University of Maryland University College hosted Colleges, Code, and Copyright.

The legislative panel was slanted toward Washington lobbyists and was helpful for the novice in examining all of the various copyright bills currently pending in Congress. Few, if any, of these bills would likely be passed in this session of Congress, but these bills serve an educational purpose and highlight many important, unresolved copyright issues.

So what are the solutions being proposed by this large group of experts in copyright and academia? David Lombard Harrison, associate vice president of The University of North Carolina, suggested a three-step process. First, universities need to enforce disciplinary action for noncompliance with their copyright compliance policies. Second, it's important to educate staff about fair use and when to apply it. Third, offer alternatives for complying with copyright systems (such as using public domain works).

This was certainly a worthwhile conference with an excellent list of presenters. Unfortunately, there was little time for discussion after each speaker or panel, though breaks and lunches did provide ample time for one-on-one discussions. Also, it would have been interesting to hear from speakers in other countries. Copyright and higher education is not an issue unique to the U.S., and many other countries that do not have fair use or that have more limited exceptions to copyright law for educational institutions may have some important practical tips for those in the U.S. This was a worthwhile meeting, and I'm looking forward to next year's conference on copyright and higher education.

[Editor's Note: This article first appeared in The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter, Volume 2004, Issue 2. See http://copyrightlaws.com.]

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Lesley Ellen Harris is a copyright, licensing, and e-commerce lawyer I consultant who works in the publishing, content, entertainment, Internet, and information industries. Her e-mail address is lesley@ copyrightlaws.com.