Copyright Corner (November, 2013)

5 COPYRIGHT ADVISOR’S UPDATE Permission Sources for Course Materials Analyses of the permissions status of Spring 2012 instructional content used in Moodle are close to completion, and I look forward to sharing the findings in the coming months. (For background information on this project, see the Copyright Corner column in the September and November 2012 issues of the ULFA Newsletter). In the meantime, changing patterns are apparent in the permission sources we rely on for coursepacks and Library Reserves. The key factor is the July 2012 Supreme Court’s decision in Alberta (Education) that copying short excerpts by teachers for use by their students can qualify as fair dealing, which led to a sea change in how fair dealing is assessed at our institution and across all Canadian educational institutions in general. Of course not everyone agrees on the meaning of the Alberta (Education) decision—see the May 2013 Copyright Corner column for more information on lawsuits that have been filed. In the Spring 2012 semester the U of L operated without an Access Copyright site license, but the Bookstore partnered with a local commercial printer holding an Access Copyright copyshop license to produce coursepacks containing material for which reasonably priced permissions were not available elsewhere. While the U of L signed a new Access Copyright license in June 2012, the Alberta (Education) decision in July 2012 meant that a significant amount of the Fall 2012 semester’s coursepack content qualified as fair dealing. In fact, Access Copyright licensed coverage accounted for about 74% of Spring 2012 coursepack content, but fell to about 4% for Fall 2012. The permission sources we relied on far more frequently for Fall 2012 coursepacks included fair dealing, open access/public domain, author permission and library database licenses. The importance of fair dealing as our main basis of permissions clearance for course-related copying continues. For the Spring and Fall 2013 semesters, fair dealing accounted for about 56% of all coursepack content, whereas our Access Copyright license covered less than 5% of permissions clearances. More than 75% of copies on print or electronic reserve in the Spring 2013 were covered by fair dealing, with our Access Copyright license accounting for about 10% of needed permissions clearances. Course Readings Format Options A number of instructors have been experimenting recently with ways to make course readings (e.g., articles, chapters, cases) available to students in cost-effective, flexible modes that are alternatives to traditional print copies. (continued) COPYRIGHT CORNER ULFA NEWS November / December 2013 6 COPYRIGHT ADVISOR’S UPDATE—continued Online-only options include using Moodle or E-Reserve to provide access to readings via full-text links or PDFs. This can be a cost-free option if students access all readings online, but it also gives students the ability to print individual readings if they wish. Online-only options are typically available when copyrighted readings do not require transactional licenses (a business case, for example, often requires a transactional license which is a type of permission not covered under an Access Copyright site license). Online-or-print options: Online access via Moodle or E-Reserve can be supplemented with an additional print-on-demand option via the Bookstore (typically an option when transactional licenses are not required). This can be a cost-free option if students choose to access all readings online. Print/digital coursepack via AcademicPub: Offered by the Bookstore, this option involves a commercial publisher’s coursepack publishing platform that allows instructors to compile their course reader and offer students the choice of purchasing it in digital or print format. If you would like more information about permissions-related aspects of the above options, please let me know. Reserve Readings Over the past couple of semesters E-Reserve use has been increasing. Feedback from students has generally been positive, as the system appears to be reliable and easy to use. We have recently added the option for instructors to use an online form to itemize materials they wish to make available via E-Reserve, while a secure means of allowing instructors to upload content for placement on E-Reserve remains under investigation. Given the 24/7 access provided by E-Reserve, starting with the Spring 2014 semester we will strive to make all photocopies submitted for placement on Reserve available on E-Reserve whenever copyright permissions clearance has been verified. Instructors will still be able to make photocopies available on print Reserve when both print and online formats are deemed necessary. As always, feel free to contact me for more information about any of the above, or on other copyright-related issues you’d like some help with. Rumi Graham University Copyright Advisor copyright@uleth.ca (403) 332-4472 COPYRIGHT CORNER ULFA NEWS November / December 201