As part of the Introduction to Research: Critical Reading and Writing course, I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation titled ‘Is Copyright a Little Fuzzy: A Guide to Copyright’ by Melanie Wrobel, Copyright Manager for Royal Roads University. The presentation was an informative refresher, reinforcing my current knowledge and understanding of how copyright law functions in general.

Working in a post-secondary institution, I have been a participant in various copyright information sessions and possess several resources as reference material. I will be able to add this presentation to that collection. Moreover, working within an academic department with students in art, design, communication and media programs, in other words content creators, copyright law has piqued my interest over time, since students in these programs unique expressions of ideas is their livelihood.

Though I had some prior knowledge of copyright laws, I had two main takeaways from this presentation. Firstly, fair dealings for educational use has its limitations when it comes to a student’s thesis. Since a thesis may be published or more widely disseminated, there is a higher level of risk, so permission needs to be obtained when using other content. Secondly, though this presentation I debunked a few myths about open access for academic content. For instance, open access to academic content does not mean universal access to that content. Various limitations to access can be places on that material. Also, open access is not necessarily about bringing content to the masses, nor does is undermine publishers. They can work in tandem. This session has increased my interest in specifically enhancing my knowledge of   the myths of open access content and copyright protections surrounding it.

 

Reference:

Wrobel, M. (2016, June 13). A Guide to Copyright (video webcast). Retrieved from: https://ultra-ca-prod-sms.bbcollab.cloud/media/stream?original_media_url=sms_73e7fdd4f37d43febde43e4472315f20&media_display_name=LRNT502