Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the legal issues of simultaneous Internet transmission of broadcasting programs of the Open University of Japan (OUJ) and to take legal measures to promote the mutual utilization of open university courses in Japan, the UK, China and Korea. Design/methodology/approach: The author examines the…

Orphan works are works that are still protected by copyright and whose owners cannot be identified or located by prospective users for copyright clearance. Many countries have addressed this issue since the emergence of the problem, and it remains a legitimate subject of inquiry in this present day. However, Malaysia is yet to initiate public…

In November 2012, the educational provisions of the Copyright Modernization Act were proclaimed in force, thereby introducing a number of significant changes to the Canadian Copyright Act. These changes include the expansion of fair dealing to include the purpose of education, the addition of new educational exceptions for the online transmission…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This special issue presents a report released by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Joint Task…

The upcoming round of exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 anticircumvention provision and the questions raised by the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the against University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for its streaming video practices illustrate the problematic state of the law concerning the digitization…

Current copyright law was formulated before the digital technology became widely available and well before Web 2.0 changed the way that information is created and shared. J. Patrick McGrail and Ewa McGrail argue that copyright law has failed to keep up with the social and legal changes that have accompanied the technological developments of the…

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…

Colleges, not surprisingly, aren't thrilled with provisions of the bill that will create "watch lists" of the most expensive institutions. The language could have been a lot worse. Back in 2005, when Republicans were in the majority, Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon of California proposed withholding federal aid from colleges that…

When Lars Ulrich, drummer for the rock group Metallica, testified before Congress about his group's lawsuit against Napster in 2000, many people who followed copyright issues in the music industry were not surprised (Ulrich, 2000). Ever since downloading audio files became as easy as clicking a few buttons on a personal computer, charges of…

This report serves as an overview of intellectual property law, policies, and practices as they relate to distance learning. It seeks to provide background information and direction for the Florida Distance Learning Network and the Postsecondary Education Planning Commission's Task Force on Telecommunications. Several of the technologies used in…

Reviews copyright legislation and its impact since 1998 from the perspective of education professionals affected primarily as intellectual property users. Offers pertinent historical and philosophical context and stresses the importance of balance between intellectual property ownership and its fair and other exceptional uses. (Author/LRW)

The recent effort by Congress to bring clarity to the issues of copyright and distance education may have generated some satisfaction among educators. Yet it also has produced an entirely new roster of questions and has placed a new set of duties on educators and administrators seeking to develop robust distance-education programs. The…

The Constitution empowers Congress to protect the rights of authors. There is disagreement, however, over whether Congress may grant authors a limited monopoly on their works or may regulate authorship by permitting reasonable public access to creative works. The traditional view of expansive pre-publication rights for authors is supported by…

August in the U.S. capital is typically quiet. Congress is in recess, and most bureaucrats choose this hot steamy month for their vacation. In a normal year, serious legislation is put off until September; in a close election year such as this one, it is put off until "after the elections." This year, with the exception of agency…

The new copyright law specifically exempts some educational activities from infringement actions, but many educational uses of copyrighted works--particularly those resulting from modern technology--will continue to be judged on the basis of fair use. This comment focuses on what fair use means for educators. (Author/LBH)