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IPR
Workshop/Conference 2006 - summary
March
2006
The
IPR Workshop/Conference in E-Learning took place on the 21st
March 2006 at the London office of the British Computer Society.
It was organised by the Business Development Unit and co-ordinated
by Dr
Carlisle George (Middlesex University
- School of Computing Science). The workshop was attended
by more than 65 participants from all over the UK.
The
day began with a short welcome by Professor
Martin Loomes, Dean of the School of Computing
Science, Middlesex University. Professor Loomes emphasised
the importance of E-Learning and Intellectual Property Rights.
He noted that E-learning made explicit, many areas of curriculum
design that are typically left implicit in more traditional
approaches and that IPR struck at the heart of education due
to issues of ownership of knowledge and culture.
 The
keynote address Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) & Society:
Issues & Challenges was given by Professor
John Naughton, of the Open University, and member
of the Royal Society of Arts Adelphi Commission.
Professor
Naughton's address advanced two propositions namely: that
the current IP regime is dysfunctional; and that failure to
address its central contradictions will have damaging consequences
for innovation, economic vitality and personal freedom. He
pointed out that over the last few decades a serious imbalance
had arisen in favour of rights holders, and that this now
poses a serious problem for public policy. He explained that
the problem is compounded by a number of factors, notably
the tendency of legislatures to engage in evidence-free law-making
in relation to intellectual property; the corrupting effect
of concerted and well-funded lobbying on behalf of vested
interests; and the lack of effective representation of the
public interest in policy-making fora. Professor Naughton
explored the consequences of biased or ill-considered IP legislation
via an analysis of the chilling impact that the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) has had on scientific research and individual
liberties. Finally, he examined possible ways of dealing with
the crisis by considering what kinds of principles should
govern future policy-making on IP, and by examining the roles
and responsibilities of universities in the field of intellectual
property.
The
work shop included two interactive sessions. In the first
(morning) session participants were able to put questions
to a panel of speakers, and in the second (afternoon) session
participants engaged in discussing various legal and ethical
scenarios related to IPR.
Five
presentations were given on the day, and are summarised below:
Professor
Paul Bacsich (Middlesex University) gave a presentation
on the Middlesex University Global Campus initiative, titled
Managing IPR in a successful e-learning enterprise: The Global
Campus, Middlesex University, UK. In his presentation he analysed
the processes used by Middlesex University for managing the
intellectual property aspects of the e-learning resources
associated with the Global Campus. Further, he gave recommendations
on IPR management in e-Learning enterprises that other UK
universities might find useful to consider.
Mr
John Casey (TrustDR Project Officer, UHI Millennium
Institute), gave a presentation titled Getting Practical with
IPR in E-learning which covered the potentially difficult
and complex area at the intersection of technology, education,
and the law. He started by presenting a short case study about
the experience of managing IPR in e-learning from the JISC
Learning to Learn (L2L) project and followed with a brief
description of the work of the TrustDR
project which addresses some of the problems raised by
the L2L project.
Dr
Carlisle George (Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University
and Barrister) gave a presentation titled IPR - licences and
other contracts for E-learning. His presentation gave a quick
grounding in licences and other contracts which are used in
the management of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in E-Learning
enterprises. He categorised licences and identified different
contracts based on the particular service or product. He also
examined some important issues that different types of contract
address, and attempted to give an understanding of these issues
to authors and other actors involved in the E-Learning process.
Monique
Ritche (Copyright and Digital Resources Officer,
Brunel University), gave a presentation titled Managing IPR
in the VLE at Brunel University : the implementation of the
CLA scanning licence. She outlined issues affecting Brunel's
implementation of the CLA licence, and provided practical
advice on managing IPR issues in a Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE). She also gave advice on other issues related to implementing
the CLA licence such as Recordkeeping, Disseminating information,
Managing workloads, Managing workflow and Storing digital
copies.
Dr
Penny Duquenoy (Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University)
gave a presentation titled Ethical issues in IPR management.
She examined the ethical impact of Intellectual Property management
in the context of e-learning with regard to the principle
of the "free spread of ideas for the moral and mutual
instruction of man, and improvement of his condition".
The presentation began with an overview of the different ethical
issues raised by the idea of Intellectual Property in the
context of e-learning, based on the principle that sharing
knowledge via the 'spreading of ideas' is morally good. She
stressed that as the mission of e-learning is to provide instruction
leading to the improvement of those who receive it, the role
played by IP management is of vital importance.
Workshop
proceedings can be obtained from The Business Development
Unit, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, London, NW4 4BT,or
email: cs-bd@mdx.ac.uk (this includes an administrative fee
of £10).
March
2006
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