The recent strike of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) raised an important issue for academic writers. Although their compensation and job security differ, WGA members and academics both are creators of knowledge and culture. Among academic authors, discussion about dissemination of and access to scholarly works and lamentation about…

Much of higher education's unease arises from the cost of dealing with illegal file sharing. Illinois State University, for example, calculated a cost of $76 to process a first claim of copyright infringement and $146 for a second. Responses range from simply passing along claims to elaborate programs architected with specific goals in mind.…

According to the "work made for hire doctrine" of the Copyright Act, the creators of artistic and literary works are not legally granted ownership of works created in the course of employment; ownership rests with the employer. However, through "de facto" custom and court dicta, academics may enjoy a "teacher exception" that grants them copyright…

Discusses how a new law allowing protected material to be used in online education has raised more questions than it has answered for college officials. (EV)

Analyzes the importance of copyright, considers the main causes of copyright infringement in electronic publishing, discusses fair use of a copyrighted work, and suggests methods to safeguard copyrighted electronic publishing, including legislation, contracts, and technology. (Author/LRW)

Focuses on a group effort by International Association of Language Laboratories members to acquire blanket permissions for instructional use of video materials, regardless of source: national networks, producers, international networks. Other issues covered include summarizing related dialogs from conferences and electronic bulletin boards;…

Discusses the evolution of "fair use," the use of video in teaching, and how three leading copyright scholars interpret the use of videos. Offers interpretative conclusions about what professors can and cannot videotape for classroom purposes. (SR)

Reviews the presentation of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Copyright Committee at a gathering of concerned organizations to discuss the educational fair use guidelines for multimedia programs. The AECT position and recommended guidelines are presented, definitions of multimedia and fair use are suggested, and…

Provides a basic introduction to copyright through a question-and-answer format. Topics covered include definition of copyright, copyright notices and registration, rights to owners, duration, software, civil and criminal penalties, the work-made-for-hire doctrine, fair use, transfer, international scope, licenses, and student materials. (EAM)

Notes that, with a few specific exceptions, student media may not take material off the Internet for use in their own publications or on their own web sites without first obtaining permission of the copyright owner. Discusses the "fair use" exception. (RS)

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to show how the self-archiving of journal papers is a major step towards providing open access to research. However, copyright transfer agreements (CTAs) that are signed by an author prior to publication often indicate whether, and in what form, self-archiving is allowed. The SHERPA/RoMEO database enables…

Distance education is expanding rapidly in higher education, with nearly all colleges and universities offering at least some courses in a distance education format. Still, teaching distance education courses is not a common expectation for faculty at hiring. The lack of faculty skilled in distance education makes it difficult for institutions to…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This issue includes the following articles: (1) ARL Encourages Members to Refrain from Signing Nondisclosure or…

Colleges have deployed various tactics over the years to deter illegal file sharing, usually of commercial music and movies, by their students. This month, the U.S. Department of Education will begin crafting regulations that specify strategies, a prospect that is making some campus officials wonder if plans they have already invested in will pass…

This study examined the status of critical thinking (CT) and reasoning skills in information communication and technology (ICT) for 190 college students in a higher education system. It analyzed how the students performed in CT, reasoning, and internet copyright and ethical issues. A CT assessment was designed to analyze the CT and reasoning…