TELTA Module (Week 2)
The following is the continuous assessment work carried out by my group during the week immediately after the Tuesday afternoon webinar that took place on 17th January 2017 from 13:00 to 14:00.
Group 4 – Copyright Gate Task (Gerry, Rachel L, Cora)
Four years ago, an employee within your organisation designed and developed an entire online twelve-week CPD module. Since its inception, the module has been run very successfully, for employees only, three times a year. The employee who designed the original module left your organisation last year to take up a post at another institute.
Word has since spread about the success of this module, and you started receiving enquiries six months ago from ‘outsiders’ asking if they could pay to participate. As a result of this, you and your colleagues decided to run an instance of the module for participants from outside your organisation. Thirty five people registered to participate and the module started two weeks ago.
One of the participants on the module is an eminent barrister who specialises in copyright law. He noticed during the first week of the module that there have been numerous copyright infringements and he sent you a private email listing these infringements: one of these happens to be a journal article that he himself wrote five years previously that has been downloaded from a closed access journal and uploaded into the virtual learning environment for all module participants to read.
You have brought the situation to the attention of your line manager and you both need to make some decisions!
In your groups, using your group wiki and discussion board (and any other tools of your group’s choosing), consider the following:
- What course of action are you going to take regarding the module? Explain briefly (in no more than 250 words) why you have made this decision.
- You have decided that some guidelines, with links to appropriate resources, need to be created and shared with those in your organisation who design and develop learning materials. Identify (no more than) five key points that should be included in the first draft of this user guide.
Once you have completed the above tasks, nominate one member of the group to post a copy of your responses to the appropriate discussion board. (Please paste the text into the body of the discussion posting rather than attaching a document). Your group’s submission posting must be made by Sunday January 22nd at 18:00 GMT.
Take the time to review what the other groups have written – rate their submissions and feel free to comment on their decisions!
Group 4 – Response (Gerry, Rachel L, Cora)
Decisions
(1) The immediate suspension of any items which were claimed to be copyright infringement from the module.
(2) The barristers’ article and access to the closed journal needs to be immediately removed.
(3) Communicate with and assure the barrister that his notifications have been received and that the matter is being dealt with appropriately.
(4) Assess and corroborate the infringements. This may lead to the removal of any other documents, images or articles which are infringing on copyright until such copyright can be obtained.
(5) Attribute non-OER material (including images) used in the module to the author until a full assessment is completed. Links to copyright material should be used, as this is not considered to be a copyright infringement (CJEU 13 Feb 2014, Case C-466/12).
(6) Bring the infringements to the appropriate body within the HEI and have them assessed by the Intellectual Property Department.
(7) Assess whether the materials are of significant value to the course before seeking appropriate permissions to use any material which had been infringed upon.
(8) Assess other modules in order to ensure compliance, especially should the original developer have been involved.
(9) Examine the copyright policies within the HEI and seek further information and training for all relevant staff.
(10) Create a ‘User Guide’ for ‘Designing and Developing eLearning Materials’ (see below).
Important Note
The ‘User Guide’ (below) includes much of the rationale behind these ten decisions.
User Guide
Section 1 – What is Copyright?
1.1 Definitions
Copyright is the legal term, which describes the rights given to authors/creators of certain categories of original work, including:
(i) Text
(ii) Images
(iii) Audio
(iv) Video
(v) Software
The employer is the owner of the copyright for a work created by an employee of an educational institution.
1.2 Exceptions
Exceptions for educational purposes are given under ‘fair dealing’. If in doubt about copyright exceptions, seek legal advice.
1.3 Licensing
Copyright legislation differs from country to country e.g. the UK differs with Ireland. Ensure the appropriate educational licenses are obtained.
1.4 Links
Irish Patents Office
https://www.patentsoffice.ie/en/Copyright/
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000/act/28/enacted/en/html
Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, Part II, Chapter 6, Section 49-52
Irish Copyright Licensing Agency (ICLA)
http://www.icla.ie/
The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA)
http://www.cla.co.uk
Section 2 – Placing Non-OER Materials on a LMS (Top Tips)
2.1 Text
- Use materials created/written by yourself or your organisation as these can be used freely.
- Make links to web based materials – do not copy and paste web pages.
- Scanning/uploading of Irish printed publications to the LMS is permitted for some materials under the ICLA licence.
2.2 Images
- Do not make images available unless you are the copyright holder or have permission from the copyright holder.
2.3 Audio
- Do not download music or other audio (such as podcasts) – provide a link instead.
2.4 Video
- Do not download materials from YouTube and other video sharing websites – provide a link instead.
2.5 Links
Irish Copyright Licencing Agency
http://www.icla.ie/
CJEU 13 Feb 2014, Case C-466/12
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=147847&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=58394
Section 3 – Protecting Your Own Work
3.1 Top Tips
- Keep supporting evidence, such as early drafts.
- Use the copyright symbol and year of publication.
- Upload your own photos or photos taken by anyone at the educational institute using a CC0 Creative Commons License.
3.2 Links
The UK Copyright Service
https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/
Search Free Images having CC0 Licence
http://creativecommons.photos/
Section 4 – Open Education Resources (OER)
4.1 Definition
OER are the teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use and adapt.
4.2 Top Tips
- Use OER to supplement
(a) materials created by you or your organisation
(b) materials permitted for use under ICLA
(c) links to copyrighted materials. - Use the Creative Commons search engine to search for Open Access Images e.g. Google Images, Flickr and Fotopedia.
- The Open Access Policy in Ireland is a useful resource which informs the education institutes policy.
4.3 Examples of OER
- Course materials, syllabus, lectures, assignments, classroom activities, pedagogical materials and many more resources contained in global digital media collections.
- Public Domain information.
- Public Service data.
4.4 Links
Open Educational Resources (OER)
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/definitions/open-educational-resources-oer
Creative Commons Search Engine
https://search.creativecommons.org/
Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
Section 5 – Creative Commons Licensing
5.1 The Licenses
Familiarise yourself with the six regularly used ‘CC’ licenses plus CC0 (Public Domain):
- CC 0
- CC BY
- CC BY-SA
- CC BY-ND
- CC BY-NC
- CC BY-NC-SA
- CC BY-NC-ND
5.2 Links
Creative Commons Licenses
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/