JISC

Panel of leading IPR experts discussing: How can HEIs and FEIs overcome negative cultural attitudes towards IPR?

Ann Monotti

• Education via libraries and copyright officers
• Increasing role of supervisors

Steve Loddington

• Top down approach
• Focus on positives
• Target key players
• Tell them enough but not too much, as too much can be over-whelming. Encourage involvement from key stakeholders
• Education tagged on to existing initiatives

John Casey

• Trust is essential and legal issues and about trust or mistrust
• Message across the board – growing identification of what is needed in this area – nature of problem – long term systematic approach. National policy development
• Time for direction from senior managers

Charles Oppenheim

• Cream of Science Project in Netherlands – service launched by top scientists of their best papers on repositories, without seeking permission from third party rights
• Champions
• IPR can engender different views: terrified and risk adverse + ignorance and/or don’t want to know. Need a managed, precautionary approach. More money lost on other things other than IPR infringement
• Generation of repository managers- ideal candidates for training for them and to capture knowledge from them. Material could be created for them. Summer school for new repository managers – and need to know how it impacts upon them.

Discussion HE/FE:

• Linked to IP institutional policies
• FOI request to each HEI and FEI regarding to copyright and follow up with support. Linked to HEIs and FEIs not getting their act together. For example in US, registry of policies
• Senior managers need policies and frameworks to encourage them to be proportionate about their risks – which would kick staff elearning activities. IP underlies economic and social relationship
• Role of repository managers
• Need to ensure balances between academics rights and long term aims
• Need to be aware that institutions can be competition with each other
• Notion of a continuum of practices and change (i.e. TrustDR)
• Need to encourage internal and external sharing
• Taking an informal approach
• Risk managed approach
• Value of the material
• Joined up approach with regards to training and involvement of IP Officers and commercial wings to ensure joined up approach and understanding of value

How can JISC overcome negative cultural attitudes towards IPR?

• HEFCE and JISC
• RoadMap for IP – clarification of where we are going
• Focus on Web2 technologies and legal aspects
• JISC target IP Offices and Technology Transfer office to bring copyright and get them more involved
• More international collaboration
• Description and development of long term problems
• Project to co-operate with European initiatives, such core competency.
• Copyright to be embedded within teacher training and integrated into courses, conversion courses etc
• Description of core competency in copyright – therefore provides framework for training requirements etc
• Role evaluation for academics and support staff
• Materials developed and placed in JORUM and linked to core competency
• Linked to general accountability
• JISC to work with other bodies such as UUK to instigate copyright policies to cover these core issues and requirements
• Shift in management of individual management of resources to central repositories. Need to take stock of this and how this is managed. Management of resources, knowledge and information needs to be taken more seriously by funding councils (which would also include IP). Initiative to mandate institutions to manage their resources and assets etc (in a similar way to commercialisation initiatives) would re-establish importance of information management.
• Need good practice examples to encourage cultural change
• Cream of Science – building brand and good practice by association
• Idea of quality and kudos

 

Overall Conclusions

The legal and policy strand provided an excellent opportunity for delegates to engage with some of the key issues relating to IPR and other legal issues within the digital repositories environment. Speakers brought a considerable wealth of expertise and knowledge to the session and the delegates were keen to engage with the issues that they raised. Apart from significant legal issues, discussions were centred around the need to establish frameworks within HEIs and FEIs where rights issues could be easily managed, understood and communicated. In light of this, the involvement of JISC current and previously funded projects, international experts and JISC representatives provided varied and important dimensions to this growing issue.