Law

Copyright briefing: report from event

I attended the CILIP Executive Briefing on copyright this week to get a heads up on the proposed changes to copyright exceptions that we hope will come into force on 1st June 2014. If you would like to read the longer report on my blog, you can find out more about the day. CLT will ensure that staff are made aware of the changes and how they might affect copying they do for private study and research, for teaching and other purposes. However the Statutory Instruments and guidance is available on the Intellectual Property Office’s website.

April 3rd, 2014|copyright|Comments Off|

Launching JISC Digital Media at BAFTA

Yesterday afternoon I went off to the salubrious surroundings of Piccadilly to BAFTA headquarters to attend a launch event for the newly rebranded ‘JISC Digital Media‘ service. The new service previously existed under the name TASI, which we were told, in no uncertain terms, we are no longer allowed to mention. I came across TASI many years ago as a very useful support website for using digital images in teaching. Not only providing the technical know-how, but also some very good pedagogical reasoning for using images.

Video and sound too!
As part of their relaunch and new funding, the new JISC Digital Media service also supports use of video and audio material in addition to still images. To quote the launch booklet “JISC Digital Media exists to help the UK’s FE and HE communities embrace and maximise the use of digital media”. They’ve redesigned their website, with a bright new look, to make it far easier to find useful support guides and related materials, such as upcoming training workshops.

Digital media helpdesk
One thing that had passed me by previously was that they also run a national helpdesk. They can provide technical and copyright advice for institutions looking to set up support for digital media use within their teaching and learning. They can also provide help for more complex requests such as setting up a digitisation programme within an institution – possibly leading to consultancy.

Upcoming training courses run by JISC Digital Media include “Copyright and Digital Images”, “Colour Management”, “Building a Departmental Image Collection”, and “Essential Photoshop Skills” and many others.

If you are an LSE member of staff then please contact us at CLT if you have any questions about the JISC Digital Media service or about digital media in general.

Kris.

March 6th, 2009|Images, Audio & Video, Teaching & Learning|Comments Off|

Web 2.0 and the Law

Last week I attended (and presented) at Web 2.0 Senior Managers Workshop – Liability and Law a JISC Legal event. The session focused on the legal implications of using Web 2.0 services (e.g. Facebook & YouTube) in teaching and research. My 5-min overview of Web 2.0 use in HE was followed by scenario-based presentations from Alison Bryce & Gillian Cordall from Maclay Murray & Spens LLP.

The scenarios & presentations touched on a wide range of potential issues including data protection & privacy, intellectual property, discrimination against students with disabilities, liability for content and copyright. Further details of the issues are available on the JISC Legal website [link to follow].

The main problem identified was not the Web 2.0 services themselves but a lack of understanding about how the services worked and the potential issues. It was suggested that there are two approaches needed to deal with the legal implications of using Web 2.0: Regulation & Education.

Regulation – institutions should make sure their IT conditions of use for both staff and students encompass Web 2.0 services. It was suggested that this might include some kind of a “Web 2.0 Project” policy that requires staff to sign an “agreement of understanding” (my phrase!) if they are going to use external services in their teaching or research.

Education – the main focus, and the one that interests me, needs to be guidance & support. As the lawyers pointed out really it’s all about informed decisions. We need to make staff & students aware of the pitfalls and regularly. Having a policy is fine but making everyone aware of it and understanding the issues is key. This is quite a challenge… ‘Web 2.0 & the Law’ workshops are unlikely to pack them in, so we need to be more subtle. For me a key approach is to get staff taking advantage of these services on a personal basis – which would both sell the potential benefits for teaching and allow the issues to be highlighted. Our Web 2.0 sessions in the Library’s e-literacy programme already do this but it’s an area we’ll be looking to expand on this year.

Image: http://flickr.com/photos/48745248@N00/225249268/