Copyright Education Research Articles

Copyright knowledge of library staff and students in an academic library

The study aims to assess the level of copyright knowledge among library staff and law students at the University of Venda (UNIVEN) library in Thohoyandou, Limpopo province, South Africa. The study used a quantitative research approach using a survey to gather data on understanding and awareness of copyright laws on campus. Google Forms was used to collect data. The population consisted of 38 library staff selected using a census sampling method and 112 final-year and postgraduate law students selected using a stratified random sampling method. The results of the study show that UNIVEN law students are more knowledgeable about basic copyright matters such as policies, copyright protection, public domain, copyright limitations, and fair dealing, copyright ownership than library staff. The research findings provided insight into the current level of copyright knowledge among library staff and law students and suggested strategies to improve copyright education and training in libraries. The results of this study will be useful to librarians, academics, and policymakers interested in promoting copyright literacy and compliance in academic libraries.

The Evolution of Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Age

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to investigate the evolution of intellectual property rights in the digital age.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the evolution of intellectual property rights in the digital age. Preliminary empirical review revealed that that the digital age has significantly impacted IPR across various dimensions. It has not only necessitated the adaptation of legal frameworks but has also introduced novel challenges and opportunities. The prevalence of digital piracy, the need for copyright enforcement mechanisms, the reevaluation of traditional notions of copyright ownership, and the complexities surrounding open access publishing are among the key issues that have emerged as central concerns in the digital age.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Diffusion of Innovations theory, Institutional theory and the Social Contract theory may be used to anchor future studies on the evolution of intellectual property rights. Some of the recommendations drawn from the study include the following: modernizing intellectual property legislation, strengthening cross-border enforcement, promoting digital literacy and copyright education, encouraging voluntary compliance and industry collaboration and adapting alternative intellectual property models.

Copyright and IPR Ethical Concerns and Solutions: In the Digital Age

In the digital age, copyright protection is quickly rising to the top of the concerns lists for publishers, users, and content creators. This essay explores the challenges facing copyright enforcement in the digital age, such as the ease of distribution and replication, the tracking challenges, the ownership complexity, and the high cost of enforcement. Equitable protection of owners' and users' rights is the aim of copyright laws. Even in the digital era, copyright laws still apply. As more and more information is made available in digital format, libraries must ensure that the public has the same access rights to it as they do to printed material. It provides several solutions to these issues, including copyright education, watermarking, digital rights management, and legal action. Because digital technologies are widely used, it is now easier than ever to copy, distribute, and access materials that are protected. However, because of increased accessibility, it is now harder than ever to uphold intellectual property rights and enforce copyright laws. This essay will examine the challenges facing copyright protection in the digital age and potential fixes.

저작권 기본 소양 함양을 위한 교육 프로그램 개발

Objectives The purpose of this study is to develop a copyright education program that can be run in a commercial high school.
 Methods We checked the current level of awareness, knowledge and attitude toward copyright among second-year students of A commercial high school in Seoul. After analyzing copyright education needs, based on the existing copyright education program, an education program suitable for application in social studies of commercial high school was developed. To conduct program, we selected four classes in second grade of A commercial high school as research subjects and used the procedures of the formative research method. The program was designed and developed according to the instructional design model through the iterative review process of student feedback, peer teacher feedback and self feedback.
 Results We Developed a lesson for 4 hours that mixes lecture-style and student-participation classes. and the contents of the class were included interests and attitudes toward copyright protection, understanding of copyright, methods of using copyright, and methods of solving problems.
 Conclusions This research is significant in developing a customized educational program that is not reflected in existing copyright educational programs.

Copyright Education and the Role of Library Associations: Current Practices and Needed Support

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)’s 2018 “Statement on Copyright Education and Copyright Literacy” highlights the need for librarians to be copyright literate and for library associations to support copyright education for library professionals. Nonetheless, while the role of library associations in supporting copyright education is foregrounded, little research has investigated the copyright initiatives of library associations. This study addresses that gap, documenting the current copyright training activities of library associations and providing recommendations for how IFLA might address copyright education needs of library workers. The research for this study took place in two phases, beginning with case studies of six library associations, followed by a multinational survey, with respondents representing 28 library associations from 25 countries. This study reveals that associations struggle to provide the full extent of copyright education resources they would like to due to a lack of funding and lack of copyright expertise among other issues. Based on survey responses, IFLA has an opportunity to directly address a global need in the library association community and overcome the barriers to developing and delivering copyright education, beginning by providing a website with basic copyright information and resources, providing training for association members on how to develop and deliver their own copyright education training, or providing guidelines on a copyright education curriculum.

Playing with Copyright

Copyright education has become an important aspect of librarians’ information literacy and scholarly communications activities. These include providing support and delivering teaching sessions for teaching and professional services colleagues, as well as students, researchers and other library users. Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to online and hybrid teaching, it has become increasingly important for lecturers and teachers to understand how licences and copyright exceptions apply to teaching and learning activities. The need for this has been documented by practitioners and scholars around the world (Hudson and Wragg, 2020; Craig and Tarantino, 2020; Morrison and Secker, 2020).In this paper we will briefly outline the concept of ‘copyright literacy’ as defined by IFLA (2018) and how it has many parallels with teaching other aspects of information literacy. This includes taking a more ‘critical’ approach, where students are encouraged to explore power dynamics within the systems of creation and consumption of information. Copyright education has traditionally been approached in a rather dry, lecture style format. This approach often serves to reinforce the perception of copyright education as the communication of a set of rigid rules to follow. We argue that the creation and use of copyright games, including Copyright the Card Game and The Publishing Trap, has transformed approaches to teaching copyright in recent years and supported a broader, more critical conception of copyright literacy. Both games are licensed as open educational resources and have been adapted and re-used by others in the UK and in other countries around the world. They have also sparked the creation of other copyright games, which are showcased at an annual conference: ICEPOPS – the International Copyright Literacy Event with Playful Opportunities for Practitioners and Scholars.The paper will explore the pedagogic principles behind our games as well as considering the value of games and playfulness when teaching about a subject such as copyright that is known to cause uncertainty and anxiety. We will also reflect on how we adapted both our games for teaching online during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this process it was important to retain the learning outcomes of the game but also the pedagogical approaches used including the use of teams and point scoring, peer learning, the use of scenarios and of discussion and critical thinking. Finally we will discuss feedback we’ve collected from librarians and others who have played or used our games in their own teaching. We will conclude considering how a critical approach to copyright education aligns with a signature pedagogy of playful learning.

Omeka S Repository for Place- and Land-Based Teaching and Learning

Our small community college library developed a learning object repository to support a cross-institutional, land-based, multidisciplinary academic initiative using the open-source platform Omeka S. Drawing on critical, feminist, and open practices, we document the relational labor, dialogue, and tensions involved with this open education project. This case study shares our experience with tools and processes that may be helpful for other small-scale open education initiatives, including user-centered iterative design, copyright education, metadata design, and user-interface development in Omeka S.

Copyright piracy and education

Copyright piracy and education

What Has Changed Since 2015? A New and Expanded Update on Copyright Practices and Approaches at Canadian Post-Secondaries

Objective – The aim of this study is to update our understanding of how Canadian post-secondary institutions address copyright education, management, and policy matters since our last survey conducted in 2015. Through the new survey, we seek to shed further light on what is known about post-secondary educational copying and contribute to filling some knowledge gaps such as those identified in the 2017 statutory review of the Canadian Copyright Act. Methods – In early 2020, a survey invitation was sent to the person or office responsible for oversight of copyright matters at member institutions of five Canadian regional academic library consortia. The study methods used were largely the same as those employed in our 2015 survey on copyright practices of Canadian universities. Results – In 2020, respondents were fewer in number but represented a wider variety of types of post-secondary institutions. In general, responsibility for copyright services and management decisions seemed to be concentrated in the library or copyright office. Topics covered and methods used in copyright education remained relatively unchanged, as did issues addressed in copyright policies. Areas reflecting some changes included blanket collective licensing, the extent of executive responsibility for copyright, and approaches to copyright education. At most participating institutions, fewer than two staff were involved in copyright services and library licenses were the permissions source most frequently relied on “very often.” Few responded to questions on the use of specialized permissions management tools and compliance monitoring. Conclusion – Copyright practices and policies at post-secondary institutions will continue to evolve and respond to changes in case law, legislation, pedagogical approaches, and students’ learning needs. The recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling on approved copying tariffs and fair dealing provides some clarity to educational institutions regarding options for managing copyright obligations and reaffirms the importance of user’s rights in maintaining a proper balance between public and private interests in Canadian copyright law.

Information Science Students’ Emotional Response to Copyright

Copyright intersects with every field of Library and Information Science (LIS) from archival and preservation practices to reference services and academic librarianship. However, copyright instruction is still lacking in many Information Science programs across the country ( Cross & Edwards, 2011 ; Schmidt & English, 2015 ). The sudden move to remote online education in the spring of 2020 due to a global pandemic highlighted the importance of understanding copyright exceptions and, especially, the power of fair use to quickly provide resources to a wide variety of patrons with novel needs. The need for accessible copyright education for all information professionals has never been stronger. However, engaging with copyright often provokes cognitive as well as affective uncertainty, likely due to the fear and anxiety that can come from the threat of serious financial and reputational consequences. Logically, it seems that librarians might feel less anxious about copyright if they had participated in formalized training about copyright focused on legal issues impacting library and information professionals. To understand this likely correlation, the researchers queried students using a qualitative survey both before and after taking an eight-week intensive copyright course that paired legal expertise with an everyday approach to material designed to demystify the law. Using phenomenographic methodology, the investigators asked their information science students how they attempt to answer copyright questions and how they feel about doing so. The results provide evidence supporting the need for more robust copyright education in schools of information science, as such training to help future librarians to feel more prepared to answer copyright questions and less anxious about intersections between copyright and their field of librarianship before they enter the workforce.

The challenges of copyright education and the Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst for change

The challenges of copyright education and the Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst for change

Knowledge of students of the exceptions and limitations clause in copyright administration in academic libraries in Ghana

Copyright exceptions and limitations, which allow information consumers the right to use copyrighted materials without necessarily obtaining permission from or payment to the rightsholder, promote advances in the arts and sciences. Poor knowledge of copyright laws results in improper use of copyrighted materials. However, the extent to which academic library users in Ghana know about the exceptions and limitations, as well as their understanding of permissible use of information in the Copyright Act 690, 2005 of Ghana are not known. The sequential mixed methods approach was employed to collect data from 530 postgraduate students from two public and two private universities in Ghana to assess their knowledge of copyright exceptions and limitations, as well as their understanding of permissible use of information in Copyright Act 690, 2005 whilst using the services of their libraries. The study shows that students were poorly knowledgeable about the various applications of the exceptions and limitations clause in the copyright laws of Ghana: students were either indifferent (i.e. ‘neutral’), or ‘disagree’, and ‘strongly disagree’ on whether the Copyright Act 690, 2005 had clauses on exceptions and limitations on various uses of information such as for ‘Private copying’, for ‘Quotations’ or ‘For the benefit of persons with disability’. Over 50% of respondents were not sure that the copyright laws of Ghana had provisions for permissible use of information. Age and gender of respondent significantly influenced these responses: older students 46 years and above, and females, were more knowledgeable compared to younger students and males respectively about exceptions and limitations for ‘Private copying’, and ‘For the benefit of people with disability’ in the copyright laws of Ghana. Policymakers in Ghana should therefore adopt youth- and gender-focus strategies in copyright education for efficient administration of copyright laws in academic libraries.

Gatherings of an Infovore: Open to the World. Really?

OPEN has become an adjective used with a myriad of terms beginning with access and joined by communications, data, source—and open research/science, which is the focus of this column. What was most interesting as I went about my gatherings was the number of articles about “open (fill in the blank)” that were not accessible without a personal or institutional subscription or the willingness of the reader to pay on demand for a download (a.k.a., pay per view, or PPV). As always, only openly accessible references are included here. Further investigation on the reader’s part using search terms such as “open research” and “open science” will uncover many more articles, but most of those will come at a price. So, it begs the question whether research/science is really open now … or will it ever be? Maintaining trust in academic publishing Groth M. KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. Blog. 2020. https://www.kwglobal.com/blog/2020/12/4/maintaining-trust-in-academic-publishing CHORUS now using GetFTR to support open research compliance for publicly funded research Girard S. 2020. https://www.chorusaccess.org/chorus-now-using-getftr-to-support-open-research-compliance/ Generating codebooks to ensure the independent use of research data: some guidelines Horstmann KG, Arslan RC, Greiff S. Eur J Psychol Assess. 2020;36:721–729. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000620. Open access legislation and regulation in the United States: implications for higher education Chaudhary A, Irwin KM, Khoa DH. J Copyright Education Librarianship. 2020;4:1–28. https://doi.org/10.17161/jcel.v4i1.13637 Science journalism, value judgments, and the open science movement Elliott KC. Front Commun. 2019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00071 Stanford researchers discuss the benefits – and perils – of science without peer review Science moving forward without traditional forms of peer […]

Development of Reading Materials for Copyright Education that Deal with Social Cases without Correct Answers

Development of Reading Materials for Copyright Education that Deal with Social Cases without Correct Answers

News from the Field

Rochester Institute of Technology preserves Hebrew wood typeChoice launches redesigned Choice360.org websiteLYRASIS, Columbia University Libraries announce Virtual Copyright Education Center pilot projectSpringshare launches Pickup Manager toolPoetry London launches digital archiveProject MUSE adds seven journal titlesBrill ebooks now available through OASIS, Rialto marketplaces

Copyright Education for Graduate Students: A Multi-Stage Approach

INTRODUCTION This article illustrates how academic librarians can structure a copyright education program for graduate students according to models of graduate student persistence. Adapting copyright education to stages of graduate persistence can help academic librarians find ways to strategically allocate resources while best educating students. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM The article examines how students at the transition, development, and research stages of their education are served by differing types of copyright education such as tutorials, workshops, and consultations. At the large research library where the authors implemented this model, the multi-staged structure of the program allowed librarians to educate students about a broad array of copyright topics throughout their graduate programs instead of addressing issues solely related to dissertations and theses at the end of their studies. Implementing this model of copyright education for graduate students has implications for program scale, instruction across disciplines, and the reduction of graduate student anxiety. NEXT STEPS This program is subject to iterative improvements, and in the future the authors would like to expand early-stage graduate programming and investigate graduate student perceptions of copyright education.

Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article asks whether the catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic justifies new limitations or interventions in copyright law so that UK educational institutions can continue to serve the needs of their students. It describes the existing copyright landscape and suggests ways in which institutions can rely on exceptions in the CDPA, including fair dealing and the exemption for lending by educational establishments. It then considers the viability of other solutions. It argues that issues caused by the pandemic would not enliven a public interest defence to copyright infringement (to the extent this still exists in UK law) but may be relevant to remedies. It also argues that compulsory licensing, while permissible under international copyright law, would not be a desirable intervention, but that legislative expansion to the existing exceptions, in order to encourage voluntary collective licensing, has a number of attractions. It concludes by observing that the pandemic highlights issues with the prevailing model for academic publishing, and asks whether COVID may encourage universities to embrace in-house and open access publishing more swiftly and for an even greater body of material.

Copyright literacy of library and information science professionals in Bangladesh

Library and information science (LIS) professionals often act as default copyright mavens at their institutions and, therefore, must have an awareness of copyright law and practices. Using a quantitative national survey: ‘Copyright Literacy of Bangladeshi LIS Professionals’ which was part of a multinational survey entitled ‘Copyright Literacy of specialists from libraries and other cultural institutions’, the main objective of the Bangladesh part was to illustrate the self-perceived familiarity with, knowledge and awareness of, and opinions about copyright-related issues of LIS professionals in Bangladesh. The survey also explored the existing institutional copyright policies, the need for copyright education for new and existing professionals and suggested topics for inclusion in training activities. The results show that Bangladeshi LIS professionals have conceptual knowledge and awareness of copyright issues, but overall lack an applied approach and hands-on training. This weakness is even more pronounced among LIS professionals who work in non-academic institutions. Based on these findings, it is suggested that relevant workshops, seminars and roundtable meetings focusing on copyright be organized that will pave the way for continued knowledge development around this topic.

Teaching Copyright Literacy in University Contexts

The IFLA Statement on Copyright Education and Copyright Literacy declares that libraries should work to enhance copyright literacy and that librarians should function as educators to achieve this. Libraries should offer workshops and training, especially when laws are amended. In the EU, member states need to implement the new copyright directive in their national legislation by June 2021 at the latest. This calls for additional focus on copyright education in the near future. This paper seeks to gain understanding of the prospects for teaching copyright literacy in university contexts and how the education best promote learning, by applying principles of learning processes on the teachings of copyright.
 Copyright is foremost a practical matter for students and faculty, which stresses the importance of shaping the content in relation to the target group. While undergraduate students struggle with how to re-use other sources for their work, researchers are more likely to struggle with what rights they are signing away or how to re-use their own work. Tailoring instruction is crucial, but what learning processes are important specifically for the subject of copyright, and how do we best approach them to foster learning?
 A set of principles is identified: activate prior knowledge, set the tone, establish ground for motivation and use case bases learning activities. These principles can enhance learning but also pose challenges, such as if prior knowledge of a differing national legislation is applied in an incorrect manner, or how to create a positive classroom climate where participants are at ease with sharing previous lack of knowledge or unlawful practice. By the use of practical scenarios make it easier to understand how copyright works. By using cases set within familiar contexts, a deeper understanding can develop and students and faculty can be empowered to solve copyright issues or know when to ask for support.

Copyright Literacy and Copyright Education for Information Professionals

The paper positions the importance of copyright literacy and copyright education for information professionals. Based on a review of scientific literature, the meaning of the term “copyright literacy” is clarified and its characteristics are presented to be used in updating the educational content and methodology of teaching in academic education and continuing professional development training programs. Developing high levels of copyright literacy (knowledge, skills and behaviours) and the ability to implement institutional copyright policy is essential for LIS (Library and Information Science) and cultural heritage professionals. The proposed conclusions in the paper are based on: findings from a multinational survey on copyright literacy of specialists from libraries and other cultural institutions (2013-2015); summary of the activities of the International Copyright Literacy Group (ICLG) in the period 2012-2019; and review of the current documents such as IFLA Statement on Copyright Education and Copyright Literacy (2018) and Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2019). Keywords: Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (EU); Copyright literacy; Copyright policy; International Copyright Literacy Group.