Copyright exceptions (fair use) and OER production

Welcome to the Copyright Exceptions (Fair Use) and OER Production Interest Group. This group is concerned with better understanding the diverse global practices, legal concerns, and practical ramifications of incorporating third-party material into open educational resources (OER) via exceptions and limitations to copyright. These exceptions and limitations, which include 'fair use', 'fair dealing', and a variety of other legal codes around the world, allow people to use copyrighted works in specific circumstances without acquiring permission from the copyright holder.

International Survey on OER and Copyright

In August 2009, ccLearn and Open.Michigan conducted an early stage survey to gather information regarding the ways in which copyright law plays a role in, and perhaps acts as a barrier to, the practices of those who create or facilitate the production of OER. The survey is now "closed" but a PDF of the survey questions is available [here], for those interested.

Despite the fact that we were only able to conduct the survey in English (for now), we still managed to reach a pretty wide audience for the survey, with responses from all over Europe, Canada, Ghana, Brazil, South Africa, Korea and Japan, to name just a few.

We are currently working on analyzing the data we gathered from the survey, and hope to have a report published in the next few months.

In the meantime, please use this forum as a place to communicate about this research and about the issue of copyright exceptions and limitations more broadly.

Brainstorm about next steps at Open Ed 2009: Open_Ed_2009_CEL_survey_notes

How can I help? Who can I contact with questions? If you have questions, or are interested in helping us to translate this survey into languages other than English, please contact us.