Becker Medical Library Scholarly Communications » Copyright

“Clinicians and researchers can no longer live in blissful ignorance of copyright. . . “

Cathy — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:30:20 +0000

Interesting commentary in NEJM:

Copyright and Open Access at the Bedside. John C. Newman and Robin Feldman. N Engl J Med 2011; 365:2447-2449. December 29, 2011.

Copyright and Technology

Cathy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:36:38 +0000

Check out this interesting article on copyright and technology: “100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words” by Nate Anderson.

“For the last hundred years, rightsholders have fretted about everything from the player piano to the VCR to digital TV to Napster. Here are those objections, in Big Content’s own words.”

Intellectual Property vs. Innovation: Time to Abolish Patent and Copyright Laws?

Cathy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:12:11 +0000

Two economists at Washington University, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine, have recently published a book, Against Intellectual Monopoly, which asserts that the “current patent/copyright system discourages and prevents inventions from entering the marketplace. ”

Video Press Release

Against Monopoly (a blog maintained by Professors Boldrin and Levine)

Copyrighting Right: How to avoid common copyright violations in scientific presentations and on the Web

Cathy — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:17:40 +0000

The NIH Catalyst September-October 2008 issue has an interesting article on copyright titled: “Copyrighting Right: How to avoid common copyright violations in scientific presentations and on the Web.”

“This article addresses some common misconceptions about copyright and provides resources to help you understand the law. Obtaining permission to use protected material or purchasing rights is not difficult, as this article demonstrates with the inclusion of the “Non Sequitur” comic strip.”

Customized Addendum for WU Authors Available

Cathy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:36:54 +0000

Are you an author and wish to retain certain rights to your journal article that are not expressly granted by the publisher? One right you may want to retain is to post the peer-reviewed version of your journal article on your laboratory website. Another right is to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy.

There is a customized addendum form available for WU authors that allows authors to select from certain groups of rights and generate a PDF that can be attached to a journal publisher’s copyright form. WU authors are not required to use this form.

View Sample Customized Form

More information on rights for authors.

Contact Cathy Sarli if you have questions.

Fair Copyright in Research Works Act

Cathy — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:00:22 +0000

The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act (HR6845) was recently introduced. The bill includes a proposal to prohibit federal agencies from requiring a transfer of copyright for a work generated by federal funds.

Related Readings:

Alliance for Taxpayer Access

ARL/ALA/SPARC Memo

Hearing on the Fair Copyright Research Act, held on 11 September 2008 (video)

Library Journal Academic Newswire

Professional Scholarly Publishing Press Release

New Slide-Rule for Assessing Copyright Status

Cathy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:41:53 +0000

The American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy recently created a slide-rule to help determine if a particular work is copyright protected. Pointing the red arrow to the date of first publication of the work provides information on the copyright status of the work.

Warming Up to User-Generated Content

Cathy — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:14:55 +0000

Interesting and thought provoking publication by Edward Lee on user-generated content/Web 2.0 tools and implications for copyright. As noted in the abstract:

“The most significant copyright development of the twenty first century has not arisen through any law enacted by Congress or opinion rendered by the Supreme Court. Instead, it has come from the unorganized, informal practices of various, unrelated users of copyrighted works, many of whom probably know next to nothing about copyright law. In order to comprehend this paradox, one must look at what is popularly known as “Web 2.0,” and the growth of user-generated content in blogs, wikis, podcasts, “mashup” videos, and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Although users often create new works of their own, sometimes the works are “remixed” with copyrighted content of others.”

To read the entire abstract and the publication: Warming Up to User-Generated Content.

Understanding Copyright and Related Rights

Cathy — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:39:59 +0000

The World Intellectual Property Organization recently issued a guide titled “Understanding Copyright and Related Rights.” The guide is intended to “provide an introduction for non-specialists or newcomers to the subject of copyright and related rights.”

Publishers Sue Georgia State on Digital Reading Matter

Cathy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:51:12 +0000

Interesting article in the New York Times by Katie Hafner.

Three prominent academic publishers are suing Georgia State University, contending that the school is violating copyright laws.