So you’re all set to teach your courses… course syllabus complete, lecture notes in place and posted on PAWS/Blackboard, reading lists done, and assignments prepared.
But have you thought about copyright? Much information has been circulated recently about changes to copyright policy on campus. Out of concern for implications for our members, USFA is alerting members to these changes and the need to adhere to copyright restrictions.
While Copyright Law/legislation itself has not changed, the campus context has. As of August 31, the University is no longer a member of Access Copyright. Along with 33 other major educational institutions in Canada, the U of S has withdrawn from Access Copyright’s CanCopy Agreement, largely due to the substantial increase in tariff fees – in our case, a nine-fold increase. This means that the University must enforce Copyright on its own.
Adherence to Copyright will fall into two broad areas. The first is “Compliance” in which faculty, staff and students are made aware of and act on Copyright provisions, permissions and restrictions. Second is “Reporting” in which University administrators will be reporting on what Copyright-related activities are taking place and proving that they are and have been compliant. The latter as such is not your direct concern although you may be asked to provide some kinds of information to your Dean or Department Head.
To be compliant, review the following…
- UofS Copyright Info http://www.usask.ca/copyright/index.php
- UofS Library’s Copyright web-site http://libguides.usask.ca/copyright4educators
- Use the UofS Library’s Licensed databases AND not post pdf’s illegally but rather “Link” to those resources on your course-pages, etc. (see http://libguides.usask.ca/directlinking
- Questions? Refer to copyright.help@usask.ca.
If you have concerns about this, we are interested in hearing your experiences. Contact the USFA office.