Copyright Resources and Assistance Available

Rapid changes in technology (digital media, networking, World Wide Web) and in the ways universities do business (ejournals, marketing of the outcomes of research) can make it hard to know how copyright laws apply in a particular situation.

Several universities have undertaken the task of summarizing how intellectual property law relates to higher education.

"Crash Course in Copyright" developed by the University of Texas Office of General Counsel (www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm)
"Regents Guide to Understanding Copyright and Educational Fair Use" by the University System of Georgia (www.peachnet.edu/admin/legal/copyright/copy.html)

Another comprehensive site is the Intellectual Property Mall (www.fplc.edu/ipmall/), created by Franklin Pierce Law Center.

New UW Copyright Information Officer

The growth in software and digital media issues has led the Provost's Office--in conjunction with the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) and UW Educational Outreach--to create the position of Copyright Information Officer. This person, expected to start later this summer, will work with the UW community to address questions that arise early in the development and management of digital media-based works.

University of Washington Computing & Communications
Windows on Computing, No. 21, Spring 1998
newsltr@cac.washington.edu