UJ Copyright Blog

An interesting video on Open Access and copyright

2011-11-21T15:32:00.000+02:00

Open Access First - Copyright Reform After  from Stevan Harnad on Vimeo.

Gary Hall: The scholarly model of publishing is no longer working effectively for publishers.

2011-06-03T11:08:00.002+02:00

Gary Hall is a Professor of Media and Performing Arts at Coventry University, UK. He is author of Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now (2008) and Culture in Bits (2002), and co-editor of New Cultural Studies (2006) and Experimenting: Essays With Samuel Weber (2007). His work has appeared in numerous journals, including Angelaki, Cultural Politics,

New Columbia-Based Open Access Journal Calls For Submissions

2011-06-03T11:02:00.003+02:00

The first open access faculty journal based at Columbia, Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements (TOHM), has issued a call for submissions for its inaugural issue. Editor-in-Chief Elan Louis, Professor of Epidemiology and Neurology at Columbia, and TOHM's editorial board are partnering with the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship to publish this peer-reviewed journal.Link

Royalty collecting agencies and South Africa

2011-03-17T09:55:00.001+02:00

the South African government commission investigating copyright royalty collection and distribution by collecting societies.Link

Review of Royalty Distribution by Collecting Societies (South Africa)

2011-03-17T09:48:00.000+02:00

The South African Minister of Trade and Industry has created a Commission chaired by a judge to review the distribution of royalties by collecting societies in South Africa.Link

Communication

2010-11-18T09:08:00.002+02:00

Open Education and Policy

2010-11-10T08:59:00.001+02:00

Creative Commons interviews Flat World Knowledge’s Eric Frank.Link

How to retain your copyright when publishing an article

2010-11-10T08:55:00.001+02:00

An article that helps academic learn how to retain their copyright when publishing their scholarly works in journalsLink pdf

Solutions for Dealing with Copyrighted Materials in an Open Access Course

2010-09-17T08:57:00.002+02:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education Education looks at discusses familiar problem for open access champions.

Opening up schorlaly information at the University of Illions Chicago

2010-09-17T08:54:00.001+02:00

"This paper describes and reflects on the University of Illinois at Chicago’s infrastructure for journal publishing (http://journals.uic.edu) using OJS. It describes why the Library took on this role. Two specific journal examples, First Monday and Behavior and Social Issues, are analyzed. The paper addresses the implementation and the strategies; it also considers the impact of the software on

Bibliography of open access journals

2010-08-27T08:10:00.000+02:00

This bibliography presents selected English-language scholarly works that are useful in understanding open access journals.

Neo Victorian Studies e-journal publishes using open access licence

2010-08-27T08:00:00.002+02:00

Neo-Victorian Studies is an e-journal that is "dedicated to contemporary re-imaginings of the nineteenth century in literature, the Arts and Humanities. The journal is published in accordance with Creative Commons: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license.

The impact of open access on the tradional role of libraries

2010-08-23T11:02:00.003+02:00

An interesting article at the Inside Higher Ed blog about the way Open Access Journalsprovide challenges to libraries:Can libraries support the open access movement by reallocating funds from paying for content to providing support for open access publications, or does that somehow go against the library's mission to support its local clientele?

College students face penalties for sharing music files

2010-06-30T13:53:00.000+02:00

Students at some Hudson Valley colleges who illegally share digital, copyrighted music could end up doing community service, shut off from Internet use — or thrown out of school — as a penalty. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the Universal, Warner, Sony and EMI record labels, had for years filed lawsuits against those

Youtube wins copyright case

2010-06-30T13:49:00.001+02:00

In the lawsuit filed by Viacom against Google/YouTube, it looks like the federal jury is learning in favor of the defendant. The $1 billion infringement claim was filed because of an alleged breach of copyright, due to the numerous videos featuring Viacom-owned content uploaded throughout YouTube-- that includes clips from CBS TV shows, Paramount movies, The Jersey Shore, you name it.LINK

Canada Introduces Legislation to Amend Copyright Laws

2010-06-03T11:57:00.001+02:00

via businessweek June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Canada today introduced new copyright legislation that will protect digital locks companies put on DVDs and other content, allow transfers for personal use and free Internet providers of liability for piracy by users. “This legislation will ensure that Canada’s copyright laws are forward-looking and responsive to a fast-paced digital world,”

Proposal to Protect Traditional Knowledge 'Doomed'

2010-05-27T15:42:00.000+02:00

Cape Town — A Department of Trade and Industry proposal to incorporate protection of indigenous knowledge into existing copyright legislation was doomed to fail, a leading patent lawyer said yesterday, as this type of knowledge did not meet the criteria for registration of intellectual property contained in lawLink

A Passion for Copyright

2010-05-20T11:11:00.001+02:00

One librarian’s love-hate relationshipCopyright is a subject with which I believe most librarians have a love-hate relationship. I am mostly in the love-it camp, but not necessarily in the love-all-the-regulations-and-guidelines one. I enjoy immensely the detective-work aspect of finding the copyright owner and then requesting permission for use of a copyrighted work. Nothing makes my day

Clinto- Era Digital Copyright Law needs overhaul

2010-05-20T10:28:00.001+02:00

A 12-year-record of abuses and misuses of a law designed to prevent digital piracy shows definitively that it isn’t working as intended, said a digital rights group in a new report released Thursday.Link

Copyright Law Could Get Ugly If ACTA Is Adopted as Is

2010-05-20T10:26:00.000+02:00

Lora Bentley spoke to Jim Burger, an intellectual property attorney in the Washington, D.C., offices of Dow Lohnes, about the proposed Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the impact it would have on the tech industry.Link

Harvard backs open access model

2009-11-12T10:59:00.000+02:00

The study found Australia was among the highest-priced country for broadband services in the three categories of low- medium- and high-speed categories it studied. Of the national markets studied by Harvard, only Poland, Hungary and Mexico were more expensive.Link

Is Open Access "Inevitable"

2009-11-12T10:55:00.002+02:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. Public access to research is "inevitable," but it will be a slog to get to it. That was the takeaway message of a panel on the role libraries can play in supporting current and future public-access moves. The panel was part of the program at the membership meeting of the Association of Research Libraries, held here yesterday and today.Link

Fate of Traditional Knowledge A Key Decision At WIPO Assemblies

2009-10-09T11:18:00.000+02:00

Intellectual Property Watch » Blog Archive » Fate Of Traditional Knowledge A Key Decision At WIPO Assemblies: "Fate Of Traditional Knowledge A Key Decision At WIPO AssembliesBy Kaitlin Mara @ 3:44 pmThe World Intellectual Property Organization must be able to set norms for innovation, from the latest development in technology to traditional knowledge systems, if it is to retain its relevance in

Prevent Canada from Becoming a Copyright Police State | Ethiopian News

2009-08-19T07:13:00.000+02:00

Prevent Canada from Becoming a Copyright Police State Ethiopian News: "Canada is planning to reform its copyright law and if the entertainment industries have their way, the rights and privacy of consumers will be thrown overboard. It’s time for all Canadian BitTorrent users to stand up against the increasing power of the anti-piracy lobby, before it’s too late."

Mi2N.com - Copyright Responsibility On The Internet - In Three Acts

2009-08-18T07:09:00.000+02:00

Mi2N.com - Copyright Responsibility On The Internet - In Three Acts: "Changes in law are driven by widespread changes in the conditions of economic exchange, in available technology, in accepted morality, and, just maybe, in human nature. The liability of internet service providers (ISPs) for copyright infringements by ISP customers is a small, intriguing - and unfinished - story of such legal

Copyright Insanity: Courts Continue To Try To Slice And Dice The Superman Copyright | Techdirt

2009-08-18T07:06:00.000+02:00

Copyright Insanity: Courts Continue To Try To Slice And Dice The Superman Copyright Techdirt: "For years, I've been watching the rather insane battle between the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Warner Bros., over who owns what copyrights concerning Superman. The overall details of the case are honestly too bizarre and convoluted to get into all of the details as to how we got here,

Copyright Length And The Life Of Mickey Mouse | Techdirt

2009-08-12T15:02:00.000+02:00

Copyright Length And The Life Of Mickey Mouse Techdirt: "Last week, we reported on Rep. Zoe Lofgren's statement that copyright law has become equal to the life of Mickey Mouse. Tom Bell has a couple of recent posts exploring issues related to Mickey Mouse and copyright, that seem worth exploring, given Rep. Lofgren's recognition of this fact. While he notes (as we have) that there's ample

The Associated Press: AP settles case over copying of news stories

2009-07-15T12:24:00.000+02:00

The Associated Press: AP settles case over copying of news stories: "NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press will collect undisclosed damages as part of a settlement of its lawsuit against All Headline News, a site that copied AP stories online without permission.The AP considered the lawsuit an important test of the 'hot news' doctrine, which was established in a 1918 Supreme Court case involving

A big week for copyrights and piracy | Technology | Los Angeles Times

2009-07-07T15:20:00.000+02:00

A big week for copyrights and piracy Technology Los Angeles Times: "The sale of The Pirate Bay probably ranks as the week's biggest news for those of us who obsess about copyright issues, followed by the ruling that Usenet.com's newsgroup-access service infringed on the major record companies' copyrights and the Supreme Court's decision not to take Hollywood's appeal of the Cablevision network

Cinema Law: Is it Too Late to Deal With Copyrights? | MovieMaker Magazine

2009-07-07T14:39:00.000+02:00

Cinema Law: Is it Too Late to Deal With Copyrights? MovieMaker Magazine: "Cinema Law: Is it Too Late to Deal With Copyrights?"

Students for open access to research — Open Students

2009-07-03T14:51:00.000+02:00

Students for open access to research — Open Students: "The Student Statement on The Right to Research, which we wrote about earlier, has been getting attention!"

Copyright Insanity: The Need To Get Licenses Just To Demonstrate A Legal Point | Techdirt

2009-07-02T13:29:00.000+02:00

Copyright Insanity: The Need To Get Licenses Just To Demonstrate A Legal Point Techdirt: "Copyright Insanity: The Need To Get Licenses Just To Demonstrate A Legal Point"

Scholary communications: What has changed

2009-06-05T15:25:00.001+02:00

Courts in the U.S. have asserted for years that our copyright law is compatible with the First Amendment guarantee of free speech by citing to principles — fair use and the rule that copyright protects only expression and leaves the underlying ideas free for all to appropriate, reuse and build upon. Both of these safeguards are still in place, yet I have twice claimed in this space that we need

Canadian Software Piracy Rates Estimated

2009-06-05T15:23:00.001+02:00

As part of the attempt to characterize Canada as a "piracy haven," the Business Software Alliance's annual Global Piracy Report plays a lead role. The Conference Board of Canada references the findings, as do their funders in their reports on the state of Canadian intellectual property laws (Chamber of Commerce, CACN). Moreover, the report always generates considerable media interest, with

Copyright Exceptions Needed To Ensure Balance In Africa, Panellists Say

2009-05-28T09:17:00.001+02:00

"International copyright laws do not take into account the reality of the conditions of accessing knowledge in Africa and clearer limitations and exceptions are needed to achieve a balanced copyright regime at the national level, panellists said at a seminar on development research on 20 May.The seminar organised by research organisation IQsensato focused on copyright and access to educational

Elsevier Journal Scandal Provokes Significant Librarian Response

2009-05-19T10:54:00.000+02:00

Elsevier admits total of six problematic publications; Progressive Librarians Guild issues call for action.Merck's financial backing of the Australasian Journal of Bone & Joint Medicine (AJBM) through Elsevier's Excerpta Medica subsidiary came to light during testimony of a class-action lawsuit against the drug company. Fewer details of the other five titles are known. according to an article in

Elsevier published fake journals

2009-05-19T10:52:00.001+02:00

Scientific publishing giant Elsevier put out a total of six publications between 2000 and 2005 that were sponsored by unnamed pharmaceutical companies and looked like peer reviewed medical journals, but did not disclose sponsorship, the company has admitted."[Elsevier called these pseudo-journals "sponsored article publications." --MES] From the Publishing Archaelogy blog

Copyright Debate Goes Online

2009-05-19T10:49:00.000+02:00

LONDON - David Lammy MP, Minister of State for Intellectual Property, took the copyright debate online, on May 15, 2009, with the launch of a micro website encouraging consumers and stakeholders to join the debate and help shape the future of copyright, a press release by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) stated.The site brings together all of the evidence that the UK-IPO has collected

Experts Aim To Balance Intellectual Property Rights And Human Rights

2009-05-19T10:46:00.002+02:00

The United Nations human rights framework is being brought to bear on intellectual property law, in the hopes that the weight of expert voices in human rights can lead IP regimes toward a better balance between the needs of industry and the needs of public policy.The Working Group on the Right to Development, an intergovernmental political body, in August 2008 took on the task of examining two

Pirated pop keeps stars popular

2009-05-15T13:09:00.000+02:00

From the bbcFile-sharing sites help make popular acts more popular, finds a study.The research, by industry body PRS for Music, showed the most pirated pop songs tend to be those at the top of the music charts.

Conference alerts: Preserving the Cultural Legacy of Serials

2009-05-15T13:05:00.001+02:00

From Conservation (Print & Manuscript) to Reformatting (many formats)toDigital (Bytes)19-21 August 2009, Bolzano, ItalyMore information available here

Open Access Directory celebrates its first year online

2009-05-06T14:46:00.001+02:00

Increasing demand drives success of Open Access resources Canada: Open Access : promises and challengesPublic Library of Science (PLoS) FAQ on Open Access

The importance of Users' Rights on World Book and Copyright Day

2009-05-04T13:18:00.002+02:00

Librarians highlight the importance of Users' Rights on World Book and Copyright Day. You can find the press release here.Also see: eIFL handbook on Copyright and Related IssuesThe Uneasy Case for Intellectual Property Rights in Traditional Knowledge. Should traditional knowledge - -the understanding or skill possessed by indigenous peoples pertaining to their culture and folklore and their use

Intellectual property news

2009-04-09T10:30:00.002+02:00

Digital Rights Management and Access to Information: a developingcountry's perspective The paper provides some recommendations and challenges to librarians andeducators in South Africa and for librarians in other developing countries,onhow to address digital rights management issues in relation to theirobligationsand mandates to provide users and learners with unrestrictedaccess

Plagiarism at Oxford University

2009-03-30T11:32:00.001+02:00

Scandal of Oxford University students making thousands of pounds by selling work on the internet 'for others to copy'

Open Access for scholarly publication required by MIT

2009-03-30T11:26:00.001+02:00

Each Faculty member grants to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology nonexclusive permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles for the purpose of open dissemination…There is more on the policy over here

Facts cannot be copyrighted judge tells documentary makers

2008-10-24T07:18:00.002+02:00

An articles published at Techdirt highlights some of the unsual practices in the movie industry where movie studios license work based on true stories. this is not neccessary as you cannot copyright factual information." Anyone can make a movie based on a true story without purchasing any kinds of rights. Now, there may be some business reasons for doing so. Licensing the story from either those

Kenya Copyright Board moves to streamline collection of royalties

2008-10-22T13:04:00.003+02:00

Three collecting societies have been appointed to act for artistes in a move meant to streamline collection of royalties.A notice in the latest Kenya Gazette notice names Music Copyright Society of Kenya that was licensed two years ago, Reproduction Rights Society that has operated under licence as KOPIKEN and the Kenya Association of Music Producers now mandated to collect royalties on behalf of

Cameroon new copyright body installed

2008-06-10T15:05:00.001+02:00

Africa News reports that 'a new corporation to take care of the copyright of Cameroonian musicians has been formed.The structure known as Société Civil Camerounaise d'Art Musical, SOCAM, was created last weekend following the dissolution of the former body, Cameroon Music Corporation, CMC'

EU commissioner calls for copyright forum

2008-06-10T07:16:00.001+02:00

'EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy has called for a special forum to encourage copyright collecting societies, publishers and consumer electronics group to reach an agreement on copying fees.'“Collecting societies and the consumer electronic industry need to findcommon ground and move forward. Simply exchanging written statements is no substitute for dialogue," he said.

INTERNET LAW - Basics of Copyrights Laws in France

2008-06-10T07:14:00.001+02:00

"Copyrights in France are regulated by the French Intellectual Property Code and related international agreements. For instance, France is signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Universal Copyright Convention of Geneva, and WIPO Copyright treaty."

Microfilm May Be History – But The Existing Films Are Not Lost Just yet

2008-06-06T09:24:00.001+02:00

Ristech technology is making it easy to preserve special documents and microfilm. What makes this technology special is that it automates most of the process making intervention by people minimum.Scanning microfilm makes it possible to make accurate records of archives.Their special microfilm scanner completely automates the process, allowing companies to easily covert all of their existing media

South African Copyright Review

2008-06-06T09:21:00.002+02:00

An invitation for people to publish comments at the Shuttleworth foundation's media wiki. To make comments you do not have to log in or create an account. Instead just click onto the page you are interested in, and then click on "discuss" to start posting your concerns, questions and critiques. The wiki sets out the entire South African Copyright Act, section by section, so that you can comment

Copyright News

2008-06-06T08:47:00.003+02:00

WTO Bid Brings Copyright Clampdown"One of the roundtables at the 12th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is dedicated to protecting intellectual property in Russia. This matter has become a crucial issue ever since Russia began the process of joining the World Trade Organization."Canadian copyright pirates, past and presentMark Twain wanted to protect his latest book, The Prince and the

Copyright infringement ''Detrimental to the Public Health' says Los Angeles County Board

2008-05-09T08:14:00.002+02:00

From the wired.com blog:'In an ordinance just adopted, the five-member board is declaring thatpiracy "substantially interferes with the interest of the public in the qualityof life and community peace, lawful commerce in the county, property values, andis detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare of the county'scitizens, its businesses and its visitors."

Harvard goes to open access

2008-05-07T13:29:00.002+02:00

Information World Review reports that Harvard University’s faculty of arts and sciences is to make its research papers available online for free.Harvard University’s faculty of arts and sciences has voted to make researchpapers and articles available online free of charge.Robert Darnton, directorof Harvard University Library, said the move was essential to halt the “severedamage” to research

Plagiarism.org added to UJ copyright blog

2008-05-07T12:11:00.000+02:00

Plagiarism.org 's learning center:"is designed to help educators and students develop a better sense of whatplagiarism means in the information age, and to teach the planning,organizational, and citation skills essential for producing quality writing and research."The website has a handy guide on how to prevent plagiarism that will be of great use to both staff and students.

Why it is necessary for the South African Copyright Act to be amended

2008-05-07T11:56:00.000+02:00

The African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project looks at the short comings of the South African Copyright Act and make suggestions on how it can be amended."The Act and its Regulations are outdated and they do not addressthe digital environment, nor do they take advantage of appropriatelimitations and exceptions (“legal flexibilities”) allowed in internationalintellectual property

Conference alerts: 2008

2008-04-11T10:43:00.000+02:00

First Unisa Department of Information Science Archives Conference 2008: Call for PapersDate: 4 and 5 September 2008 - Venue: University of South Africa (Sunnyside Campus): Building 7, Room 1-BTheme: Exploring Our Cultural Heritage: Managing Archives and Records for the Present and Future GenerationsContact : Prof Patrick Ngulube at ngulup@unisa.ac.zaA Reference Renaissance: Current and Future

Welcome

2008-04-04T09:11:00.000+02:00

Welcome to the UJ Copyright blog, this publication will provide UJ academic staff with copyright information as it relates to the University and educational environment in general.