The Common Sense of the Fair-Use Doctrine; Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/21/11

Pat Aufderheide, Chronicle of Higher Education; The Common Sense of the Fair-Use Doctrine:

"The right of scholars to use unlicensed material for research and publication purposes is clear under the U.S. doctrine of fair use. Fair use—a broad, flexible part of copyright policy determined on a case-by-case basis—permits users to repurpose, or transform, an appropriate amount of original material. If it's so easy, why are so many smart people so scared of fair use? In the work that the legal scholar Peter Jaszi and I have done since 2004, and have synthesized in our new book, Reclaiming Fair Use, we have seen members of many professional and creative communities express that same anxiety. And we believe we understand why: They lack a common-sense understanding of their rights."

Pushing Back Against Legal Threats by Putting Fair Use Forward; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/29/11

Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education; Pushing Back Against Legal Threats by Putting Fair Use Forward:

"A rarely discussed form of self-censorship happens routinely on college campuses. Professors and graduate students choose not to tackle academic arguments that involve music, movies, or other forms of popular culture. They worry that including relevant clips in their work means the hassle and expense of getting copyright permission for each snippet."

Fair use for poets, demystified; BoingBoing.net, 1/29/11

Cory Doctorw, BoingBoing.net; Fair use for poets, demystified:

"Pat [Aufderheide] from American University's Center for Social Media sez, "We're excited to announce the launch of a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry, cofacilitated by WCL-AU's Peter Jaszi, UCB's Jennifer Urban, Kate Coles from the Poetry Foundation, and Center for Social Media's Pat Aufderheide. The hashtag is #fairusepoetry"

Center Releases New Guide to Navigating Copyright Law; Chronicle of Higher Education, 6/23/10

Sophia Li, Chronicle of Higher Education; Center Releases New Guide to Navigating Copyright Law:

"Communications scholars often fret over the legal nuances of using copyrighted material in their research, says Pat Aufderheide, a professor of communication at American University and director of its Center for Social Media. Ms. Aufderheide and Peter A. Jaszi, a law professor at American, hope to help researchers rest easy with a new guide to using copyrighted work—like political cartoons or screenshots from online games—in their studies.

Because of the "fair use" provisions of copyright law, copyrighted work can be quoted if it is being used for a purpose different from its original intent, according to the report, which was vetted by a committee of lawyers.

The report, released today, gives communications scholars four types of research-related situations as examples: analyzing copyrighted material, quoting it to illustrate a point, using it to spark discussion, and storing it in a collection. The situations in the report were based on 387 responses to a survey of communications scholars conducted in collaboration with the International Communication Association.

The center's guides establish what's acceptable for a field and tell scholars how to apply the law to the cases they encounter, said Ms. Aufderheide.

The center plans to continue producing similar documents for other groups, like an association of research librarians, that want clearer guidelines on using copyrighted works, she added."

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Center-Releases-New-Guide-to/25038/