News
Innovative CopyRIGHT tool for using copyrighted material in courses
To support teachers in correctly using copyrighted materials in their courses, WUR is participating in a SURF innovation project to develop the CopyRIGHT tool. We are now in the second phase of testing the tool.
Easy copyright compliance
Because of copyright law, teachers may not offer their students every publication as PDF in Brightspace. To help teachers with copyright compliance, SURF, together with several university libraries including WUR Library, is developing the CopyRIGHT-tool. The tool contributes to the correct use of copyrighted learning materials in Brightspace.
Workflow
The CopyRIGHT-tool automatically analyses and flags possible copyright infringements. The review team from ESA and WUR Library then contacts the course coordinator to discuss alternatives. For this end, the coordinator’s contact information (name and email address) is listed in the CopyRIGHT-tool (only available to the review team). Together, options will then be explored to share the publication, or a comparable text, with students. Sometimes a hyperlink can be given to copyrighted material, sometimes an (open access) alternative can be used, or the publication or book can be purchased by the Library for its collection.
Benefits CopyRIGHT tool
By using the CopyRIGHT tool, it’s it easier to get an overview of all content used in Brightspace courses and to highlight possible copyright infringements early on and act on it. Making teachers aware of the (potential illegal) use of these materials (mostly unintended) will hopefully reduce the number of publications without a license and thus reducing the total costs for WUR. The automated analysis by the CopyRIGHT tool is less labor intensive than a manual check of the PDFs and reduces administrative burden. Furthermore, the tool helps to make better use of both open access publications within the educational system and license agreements between publishers and universities.
Further information and contact
On the website of the Copyright Information Point, you can find more information on copyright in teaching materials, and WUR's policy on using copyrighted material in education. If you have additional questions about copyright, you can contact the Copyright Information Point. If you want more information about the CopyRIGHT project, you can subscribe to the SURF CopyRIGHT newsletter or get in touch with Sjors Clemens from WUR Library.