Educators, cultural institutions to look at copyright law, implications

Educators,
cultural institutions to look at copyright law, implications
…………………………………………………………………

What materials
can an instructor put on a Web site without committing a
copyright violation? What guidelines govern the creation
of custom coursepacks and electronic reserves? What trends
in copyright law should concern faculty, librarians, information
technology experts and others involved in higher education?

These are some
of the issues that will be addressed at the Houston Copyright
Town Meeting, set for April 25 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

A part of the
National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage Copyright
Town Meeting series, the campus event seeks to open discussion
among the various educational and cultural constituencies
concerned with copyright issues.

The meeting will
provide an overview of copyright law and its implications
for educational and cultural institutions, examining the
law’s historical foundations, its evolution in an increasingly
digital environment and current trends.

A morning session
will address copyright fundamentals as well as the legal
and technical dimensions of using devices to control access
to information. In the afternoon, speakers representing
universities, libraries and museums will discuss the significance
of copyright for their communities. Approaches to copyright
— pursuing the open source model, upholding the public
domain, licensing electronic resources and requesting permission
to use copyrighted materials — will be examined.

In the true town
meeting tradition, he event will provide an opportunity
for questions and discussion, and will conclude with an
open dialog about the issues raised during the day.

Speakers will
include Georgia Harper, developer of the Copyright Crash
Course and manager of the intellectual property section
at the University of Texas System General Counsel Office;
Rodney Peterson, director of policy and planning and Project
NEThics, Office of Information Technology, University of
Maryland; and Tyler Ochoa, co-director of the Center for
Intellectual Property Law at the Whittier Law School.

The meeting
is free, but participants must register. A box lunch will
be available for $7, and the deadline to reserve the lunch
is April 20. A schedule and other information can be found
at <www.rice.edu/Fondren/CopyrightTM/>.
The online registration form can be accessed at <www.rice.edu/Fondren/CopyrightTM/registration.html>.