white paper on CONTU
Sara Benson (University of Illinois), Meg Oakley (Georgetown), and I wrote a white paper for ARL about CONTU — the Section 108 ILL guidelines developed in the 1970s. Read more here!
MSP guidance to instructors & faculty on copyright
MSP has made available guidance about copyright and instructional materials — that can be found online at the MSP website.
UMass comments on the open textbooks pilot program
UMass has submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education on the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Open Textbooks Pilot Program. The comment is available at UMass’ institutional repository, ScholarWorks.
Public Statement: Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching & Research
Library copyright experts (attorneys and librarians) have jointly published a “Public Statement on Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching and Research“. We hope this will clarify copyright questions for library and academic staff charged with rapidly transitioning classes to online, when students, faculty, and library staff may have not had
Music Modernization Act comment supporting academic rates
On December 20, 2019, a group of music librarians, archivists, and library copyright specialists submitted comments to the Copyright Office in response to its Notice of Inquiry regarding Music Modernization License Implementation Regulations. We write to encourage the Office to include options in the new blanket licensing structure appropriate for
Teaching Copyright – new book chapter!
I recently published a book chapter (“Hooking Your Audience on Copyright”) in Coaching Copyright, edited by Kevin L. Smith and Erin L. Ellis (2019). The chapter is available open access at ScholarWorks.
UMass Comment on NIH Data Sharing Policy
The UMass Amherst Libraries have submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Science Policy (OSP) regarding its Request for Information (RFI) on “Proposed Provisions for a Draft Data Management and Sharing Policy for NIH Funded or Supported Research.” The comment is available at NIH and also at
library copyright experts on Copyright Office independence
Forty-two different experts on libraries and copyright (including me) today submitted a letter to Congress regarding the recent proposal to pull the Copyright Office out of its historic home in the Library of Congress. While copyright maximalists have of late taken to calling for separation, in fact, libraries have for generations
UMass Libraries comments to NSF on open access
The UMass Libraries have submitted comments to the NSF for its 2017-2018 Strategic Plan update. (Further reading: Summary of current Strategic Plan, and full text of current Strategic Plan, published in 2014.) Re: Comments on Strategic Plan, 2017-18 Update Dear National Science Foundation, Thank you for providing this opportunity to
Madonna wins sampling case on de minimis
The 9th Circuit just handed a win to remix artists in a Madonna “Vogue” sampling case. (VMG Salsoul v. Madonna, 9th Cir. June 2, 2016.) Madonna had sampled less than a quarter of a second of a song, and the 9th Circuit held that this was “de minimis” — an explicit rejection