Copyright and Intellectual Property

    

In a digital age, navigating the issue of intellectual property, copyright, and fair use can be a daunting task.  This page provides an overview of some topics relevant to teaching in a digital age at UMN.  The topics include faculty intellectual property, the UMN libraries fair use analysis tool, acceptable use polices regarding items available from the UMN libraries subscription services, and information on how to deeplink to library e-articles.  

  

UMN Views on Faculty Intellectual Property

 

See the links below for information from the Provost's office regarding intellectual property. 

    

Provost's academic update on Intellectual Property

 

Provost's "New Copyright Policy"

 

The provost's new copyright policy describes instances when a faculty member owns the copyright to his/her works, e.g. course content such as PowerPoint files, or when a faculty member leaves the university, and even course syllabi.  The page also provides situated case examples of what is considered directed or non-directed works.

 

Fair Use Exception to Copyright

 

When considering use of digital media as part of learning activities in classes, it is important to consider copyright and possible fair use exceptions for including such media. Fortunately, UMN Libraries has created a "Fair Use Analysis Tool."

 

The fair use analysis tool walks you through four areas attributed to the fair use model of copyright and provides a "report" upon completion. The report provides a print-out of how you would rank the media's use in your class, based on your interpretation of the four basic areas and the intended use of the media. There are a number of ways you could use the Fair Use Analysis Tool:

  • to explore how your intended use of the media aligns with the fair use model
  • to provide a report for self-reflection to determine if fair use model may apply
  • to provide a means of self-documentation

Read more about the Fair Use Analysis Tool:  http://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/

 

Educause 2008

"Mashups, Remixes, and Video Culture: Engaging the YouTube Generation in the Classroom"

 

 

Posting Copies of Articles Online

   

The acceptable use policy at UMN libraries provides that copies of online articles cannot be posted to a university server, i.e., copies of articles available via electronic means from the UMN libary e-subscriptions cannot be posted to WebVista, Moodle, UM Netfiles, or a person's personal web.   

 

http://www.lib.umn.edu/acceptuse.phtml

 

This same page provides that emailing copies of the same files is allowed under certain conditions.

 

An alternative to posting copies of files to WebVista, Moodle, etc, is to create a link to the e-journal article hosted by the university's subscription service.  This technique is often called creating a "deeplink."  Deeplinks to e-articles will work for students, even if the students are connecting from off-campus.  To learn about creating deeplinks to articles see:

 

Creating deeplinks to e-articles at UMN libraries