Podcast on Updates in Copyright Law

EDUCAUSE has a podcast and has recently had an episode on recent updates in Copyright Law. Have a listen to the introduction here - http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/educauselivepodcastupdate/46505 - then fire up your iTunes and subscribe to the podcast.

Turn it In wins court case

I recently mentioned a court case where students sued Turn It In for copyright violation. The plagiarism prevention company allows professors to run papers through its database, where the paper is compared to thousands of other papers. Turn It In then adds the submitted paper to its database, complete with identifiable information like the student's name and the professor's name. It is this last step that is the reason for the lawsuit.

A court ruled that Turn It In did not violate copyright in this reuse of student work, the Chronicle of Education reported. I'm personally skeptical, as are the plaintiffs, who plan to appeal.

http://chronicle.com/free/2008/03/2250n.htm

Impact of Copyright Confusion

Here is a good article, reprinted from Education Week, on the impact of copyright confusion among teachers and students.

Copyright Confusion Is Shortchanging Our Students By Renee Hobbs

The web makes the difference

Students at Univ of Iowa are up in arms about the University's plan to publish student work on the web. The thing is, the information was publicly available before, just not on the web. The students argue, with some reason, that publishing the work on the web is different from making it available in the graduate office.

U. of Iowa Writing Students Revolt Against a Plan They Say Would Give Away Their Work on the Web

The Cost of Copyright

A thoughtful commentary on the recent article "The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy. "

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/archives/1369

Intellectual Property Conference

" Join the Center for Intellectual Property for its annual symposium exploring the relationship between the U.S. copyright monopoly, technological innovation and higher education institutions."
http://www.umuc.edu/mkting/cip/index2.html