"The Academic mission and copyright law: are these values in conflict?"

Abstract

If the academic mission of a university is to foster teaching and research, and the purpose of copyright is to "promote the sciences and useful arts," where is the conflict? It is in the day-to-day use of copyrighted materials, and the growing enforcement of anti-infringement policies. When professors and students use readings, graphs, images, recordings or publications in any format, someone is likely to be paying a copyright clearance fee. In some circumstances, such a fee is not necessary but it is paid out of fear or misunderstanding of the law. In other circumstances, it is the result of overzealour enforcement of clearance fees or of stringent anti-infringement policies. This presentation will outline several situations in which copyright enforcement has interfered with the academic mission at a typical institution of higher education. Examples include prohibited uses of articles or graphics from licensed electronic databases; overpriced course readings provided via commercial copy-shops or via E-reserves; computer security research; campus film series; and some dubious educational efforts produced by copyright enforcemnet advocates. It will conclude with a look at two potential solutions: better licensing, and open access publishing.