Group items tagged

"This approach doesn't entirely invalidate existing computational idea patents, because they would continue to apply to implementations using special-purpose hardware. This is an advantage because it eliminates an argument against the legal validity of the plan. The U.S. passed a law some years ago shielding surgeons from patent lawsuits, so that even if surgical procedures are patented, surgeons are safe. That provides a precedent for this solution."

As long as you're just looking to record your consensual conversations with coworkers, you should be fine, but for everyone else, it's a good idea to brush up on when it's legal to record calls first. That being said, you have a few options.

A federal judge is declaring as unlawful a one-of-a-kind website enabling the online sale of pre-owned digital music files. ReDigi, which opened in late 2011, provides a platform to buy and sell used MP3s that were once purchased lawfully through iTunes. The case weighed the so-called first-sale doctrine, the legal theory that people in lawful possession of copyright material have the right to resell it. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan, ruling in a suit brought by Vivendi's Capitol Records, said the doctrine did not apply to digital goods.

"These dual characteristics of "open" are also core to Open Educational Resources (OER). Hewlett's updated OER definition begins: "OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others." That is, for an educational resource to be "open" it must be both gratis (available at no-cost) and libre (everyone has the legal rights to repurpose the resource). An OER cannot be freely available or openly licensed - it must be both freely available and openly licensed (or in the public domain) to be an OER."

""Why not shame and embarrass others, especially the vulnerable, if there are no negative consequences? If people had a stronger sense that online abuse would be followed by legal or social sanctions, then we surely would have less of it," according to Danielle Keats Citron, law professor at the University of Maryland and author of 2014's Hate Crimes in Cyberspace."

"Finding copyright free (public domain) and free to use cartoons (open licensed) can be difficult and the reuse of cartoons in online resources without the necessary permissions is a tricky legal area depending on the facts and circumstances of the case. Here you will find a collection of free to use cartoons that have been licensed in terms of Creative Commons licenses - to visit each cartoonist's site, click on their cartoons shown below. Please do adhere to the terms of use specified by each author."

It is hard to imagine holding a university-level class today in which students do not engage with the web or social media in one form or another, whether by using Google search, bookmarking or sharing an article, taking an online survey, posting or commenting on a blog, or using e-mail or text messaging. So, what rules should we, as instructors, follow to ensure no legal or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) issues arise?

"If you are frequently sharing images online it's essential to have a virtual rolodex of go-to websites where you can quickly and effectively find free images. Not only that- but it's important that you have websites in which the legal restrictions are clear and concise. Below you will find my go-to list of the best sources for finding free photos for sharing online. I've also included some of my favorite paid resources as well just in case."

OER, a part of the global open content movement, are shared teaching, learning, and research resources available under legally recognized open licenses-free for people to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Why are OER important? High-quality OER can save teachers significant time and effort on resource development and advance student learning inside and outside the classroom. Further, open sharing of resources has the potential to fuel collaboration, encourage the improvement of available materials, and aid in the dissemination of best practices.

I absolutely love it when teachers and students create, remix, and mash up media; it's a fantastic way to encourage deeper learning and media literacy. But one issue that complicates digital freedom of expression is copyright law. While many would argue that copyright law is outdated and badly in need of an overhaul, it's still critical that adults and kids alike have a basic understanding of what's legal and ethical while playing with other people's intellectual property. Here's a list of videos I collected to help you navigate the murky waters of copyright law in educational settings.

"The legal case of Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate that settled the claim actually rested on an interesting issue, whether a copyright claim can persist on a character even if the works depicting that character have fallen out of copyright. The defense of the Doyle estate went something like this: sure, Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are now at least 90 years old, but other stories about Sherlock Holmes are still under copyright, therefore Sherlock Holmes is still under copyright. Judge Richard Posner didn't buy the argument, and he ruled that Sherlock Holmes, the character, is now in the public domain."

"Yes, ownership is sort of implied in the "reuse" R, and is legally permitted by open licenses. But for all of their willingness to share access to open educational resources, how many OER publishers go out of their way to make it easy for you to grab a copy of their OER that you can own and control forever? "

"To be clear, this isn't an official YouTube tool (though I'd still argue that YouTube really, really ought to build one) - so don't be surprised if it doesn't work forever , particularly if YouTube's legal team gets too bummed about the use of their trademark right in the domain. This is a side project by the team behind the super GIF-centric messaging app Glyphic."

"Despite the court cases being filed in New York's Southern District, the institutions targeted are located all over the country. All are private colleges, universities or conservatories, and include large research universities such as Northeastern University and Drexel University. Both institutions said they do not comment on ongoing legal matters. Also being sued are Cornell University, Vanderbilt University, the California Institute of the Arts, Oberlin College, Loyola University New Orleans, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and many others."

"The 2016 Federal regulations for State Authorization of Distance Education, initially to be effective July 1, 2018, have been delayed for two years. The Department proposes another round of negotiated rulemaking to amend regulations governing legal authorization of institutions by States and amend regulations for state authorization of distance education."

Clarity in Fair Use

"A study out this month made the point all too clear. Most of the 543 university students involved in the analysis didn't bother to read the terms of service before signing up for a fake social networking site called "NameDrop" that the students believed was real. Those who did glossed over important clauses. The terms of service required them to give up their first born, and if they don't yet have one, they get until 2050 to do so. The privacy policy said that their data would be given to the NSA and employers. Of the few participants who read those clauses, they signed up for the service anyway."

Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources