MATT CHEETHAM
News Writer

Copyright issues aren’t just of interest to those swapping music and movies online — professors also have an interest.

A panel aimed at raising awareness of copyright uses in the classroom setting was held Oct. 7 in the Learning Commons of the Murray Library.

The panel lasted about an hour and most of the questions were asked by faculty inquiring about whether they could use Internet content in lectures. Despite the small turnout of about 20 people, everyone involved seemed very interested in where this will go next.

Liv Marken, coordinator of the writing help centre, is excited about something that is so relevant to academic integrity issues

“We are trying to make available a public forum for discussion of copyright-copyleft issues,” Marken said. “We’re also breaking in our new Learning Commons space, establishing it as a place of intellectual and social exchange.”

Richard Schwier, acting director of the University Learning Centre, is hoping the panel will lead to further interest in this area.

“My main point is to hopefully… maintain and use Creative Commons ethically and contribute to a larger culture of sharing,” he said.

Tom Roberts, legal manger of the Industry Liaison Office of the vice president research, was there to talk about his experience in dealing with protecting the university’s intellectual property. A few of the things Roberts discussed included a proposed bill that would allow for more creative control regarding Internet copyright.

Amanda Storey, operations officer and copyright coordinator, spoke about open access and Creative Commons. Storey explained that Creative Commons is a set of licences, the criteria of which can be mixed and matched. It allows people to use material created by someone else without the legal issues involved with copyright while the creator can decide which rights to hold on to.

“This eases the negotiation because straight-up copyright is very stringent and doesn’t give you room to move. If you want to use an image for a presentation you have to go and find the owner and ask specifically if you can use it. With Creative Commons, you can use it right away and you are told how to use it.”

Storey also talked about Open Access, which she described as an idea of openly available free research and scholarly work to make learning easier. One example is Gold OA, a fully open access journal.