JISC Legal Monthly - June

Legal Guidance for ICT Use in Education and Research, at:
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Newsletter.aspx
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Contents include and has more on:

In the Queen's speech, the Freedom Bill is described as a new piece of legislation to return freedoms to the general public and repeal previous complex and unnecessary laws...These significant recommended changes will be of direct relevance to FE and HE institutions.

A dispute over copyright has arisen between a professor and his former employer, Newcastle University...staff working in HE and FE to check the copyright policy in their institutions and, when negotiating copyright ownership, to ensure the agreed terms are clear and contained in their written contract of employment.

The Digital Economy Act 2010 was given royal assent late on Thursday, 8 April 2010...The latest version sees file-sharers accused of infringing copyright having their internet connections suspended, through ‘blocking injunctions’ without the opportunity to be heard before a court...consequences for internet providers including universities, colleges and libraries...another amendment...relating to ‘orphaned works’, where the copyright owner cannot be legitimately traced, has been dropped completely.

New CLA Guidance for HE

http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=243&id=1334

The CLA Higher Education Copyright Licence Operation Working Group has issued a Good Practice Guide for higher education in the creation of course packs. The guidance includes illustrations of good and questionable practice. There is an explanation of the aims of the licence and information on what to do when in doubt.

Full pdf document at: http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/he/he_good_practice_guide.pdf.

YouTube - speech recognition software

Every single YouTube video with English language audio can now support captioning created by speech recognition software thus improving the sites accessibility for videos. More details from the Out-Law website at:
http://www.out-law.com/page-10815.

YouTube item
Googleblog item


User generated content online
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=243&id=1298

Amendment to clause 17 of the Digital Economy Bill could lead to entire sites being forced offline if it becomes law. The Bill is designed to combat digital copyright infringement and is planned to be hastily pushed through the legislative process before an April election...potentially, entire sites like YouTube could be forced offline reports the Guardian. This could lead to further legal challenges for institutions providing internet services and using user generated content sites. For the full article, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/05/digital-economy-bill-pushed-through

OER - Legal Matters - Webcast

Thursday, 5 November 2009 - 2pm to 4pm

to highlight and clarify relevant legal issues pertaining to the creation and dissemination of Open Educational Resources

More details are available here: http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/tabid/243/ID/1150/OER--Legal-Matters--Webcast--051109.aspx

Will be available to view afterwards from the link to the webcast site from above URL.

JISC-legal will be presenting at the:
Open Learning Conference in Nottingham on the 25 November 2009.