Statements : JISC

Statements

Here are JISC's recent public statements.

Implementing the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth: Implications for UK Further and Higher Education

Background

In May 2011, Professor Ian Hargreaves published his Independent review of IP & growth. The 10 recommendations were broadly accepted in the UK Government's response (402Kb) issued on 3 August 2011.

On 14 December 2011, Baroness Wilcox, the Minister for Intellectual Property (IP), launched this UK Government consultation seeking evidence to support specific issues associated with the recommendations.

JISC believes that the UK Government consultation is an important opportunity for the UK further and higher education to provide evidence to help inform the development of an IP policy framework which is ‘fit for purpose” in the 21st century. This Briefing Paper is aimed at those in UK higher and further education institutions with responsibility for strategy, planning, and the management of intellectual property. It aims to support submissions from UK higher and further education institutions by outlining the potential implications that reforms to IP legislation may have for education and research.

What were the key original Hargreaves recommendations?

There were 10 original recommendations arising from the Hargreaves Review in all, including those covering potential new exceptions for parody and format shifting, however some of the most pertinent for UK education and research re listed below:

Widening the exception for non-commercial research to allow data mining, enabling researchers to achieve new medical and scientific advancement from existing research. As consistently pointed out by JISC and others in the HE community, currently researchers cannot use some text and data mining techniques to read data from journal articles which they or their institution have already paid to access without specific permissions from the publishers for each article.
Extending the preservation exceptions to cover all types of works thus recognising that importance of preserving analogue and digital works.
Establishing licensing and copyright procedure for ‘orphan works’ (works for which the rightsholder is unknown or cannot be traced). This would open up a range of works currently locked away in universities and cultural heritage institutions which remain unavailable for educational, and research purposes.
Introducing provision for voluntary extended collective licensing schemes, which would make it simpler to get permission to use copyright works. These schemes would allow authorised and potentially regulated collecting societies to license on behalf of all rightsholders (except those who choose to opt-out).
Modernising other exceptions including those for education, quotation and people with disabilities
Future-proofing any potential legislative reforms by establishing provisions which prevent contracts from over-riding the copyright exceptions.

What is the importance of a higher and further education response?

IP legislation provides opportunities and constraints on further and higher education competiveness. The UK like other nations is keen to ensure that any ‘modernisation’ of IP legislation helps simulates innovation and growth. UK further and higher education are key components in providing the UK with a completive edge. It is vital that they submit evidenced based submission to the consultation to ensure that their ‘real world’ evidence are taking into account by the Government as it reviews options for change.

For example, many of recommendations outlined, provide new opportunities for further exploitation and embedding of digital content and services within further and higher education, as well as adding to an already burgeoning desire towards ‘open innovation’ as part of universities’ knowledge transfer activities. Each recommendation provides different opportunities and potential benefits for learning, teaching and research.

Who is this consultation aimed at?

The consultation will be of interest to a wide range of people and institutions including (but not only): consumers, authors and creators, publishers, content providers, libraries, schools and universities. This consultation is UK-wide and responses are encouraged from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

If you wish to submit a response to the consultation, please see the Guidance section below.

What is the guidance for submitting a response?

The UKIPO has also issued the following practical guidance on submissions:

“...Responses to the specific questions which are raised in each section are particularly welcomed. It is not necessary to respond to all the questions; you are welcome to provide answers only to those issues of most interest or relevance to you.

Please make your responses as brief as possible. At this stage of consultation the Government is listening to views as to how it should deliver on its commitments, so detailed suggestions about how to draft legislation, for example, are likely to be premature.

While the Government will do its best to note responses that are outside the scope of this consultation, it may not be in a position to respond to those points alongside the issues we are asking about.

This consultation will run for 14 weeks and the closing date for responses is 21 March 2012. A response can be submitted by letter or email or by using the response form included as Annex D to this document.

Responses should be sent to:

David Burgess
Intellectual Property Office
21 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1B 3HF
United Kingdom
E-mail: copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk
Fax: +44 (0) 020 7034 2826

When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual, or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of an organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents (providing a link to a webpage that has the information would be ideal) and, where applicable, how the views of members were assembled. Similarly, if you as an individual have been encouraged to respond by an organisation, it would be useful to know which one.”

What is the deadline for responses?

The deadline for responses is 21st March 2012

Where can I find out more information?

All information and submission form templates can be found at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-policy/consult/consult-live/consult-2011-copyright.htm

Copyright - response to green paper on the online distribution of audiovisual works in the European Union

Read the paper and join in the consultation yourself here.

JISC welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation and in particular how the use of information communication technology (ICT) can boost the market in audiovisual content. However, we believe that the Green Paper is limited in scope by not suitably dealing with certain key areas.

a. It fails to acknowledge that the lack of a harmonized copyright exception regime across the European Union (EU) is a contributory factor to the ability to achievement of a Single Market.

b. The wealth of audiovisual materials held across the EU will include commercial films, as well as documentary films, home movies etc. Any provisions also need to take into consideration the ability to use works such as these which may have little or no commercial value without financial renumeration, as well as provisions covering the volume of user-generated audiovisual content being created and disseminated in the 21st century.

c. Any provisions must dovetail into EU initiatives to seek solutions for and prevent audiovisual orphan works.

d. A vast range of audiovisual materials are held, preserved and curated by many organisations such as museums, libraries, archives and other cultural heritage organizations, as well as universities and colleges. Such provisions must include as broad a range of these organisations as possible.

Read the full response in a PDF document

Copyright - responses to the Hargreaves Review

Letter to Daily Telegraph, 13 July 2011

By recognising that the entertainment industry’s intellectual property (IP) incentives are different from those needed for education and research, the Hargreaves review can strengthen UK R&D, and support growth (report, July 4).

We support the introduction of modern digital "exceptions" in copyright law to support archiving, teaching and non-commercial research. The argument for an exception for text and data mining to speed up scientific and medical discovery is compelling. None of these exceptions in copyright law should be able to be subsequently over-ridden by private contract.

We must find a solution for "orphan" works, support better licensing mechanisms to clear rights en masse through collecting societies (that adhere to minimum standards), as well as ensure that in the future IP policy is evidence based and less susceptible to “lobbynomics.”

We call upon the Government to implement these proposals as soon as possible.

See this letter as it appeared in the Telegraph

Letter to Daily Telegraph, 3 March 2011

Britain’s outdated copyright laws are hindering innovation and damaging our country’s future prosperity. What is needed is a system which continues to protect the rights and rewards of creators, without unnecessarily hampering the ability of other artists, researchers and innovators to reuse this work.

Copyright reform in the Hargreaves review (Business, March 3) should do four things: put in place a quicker way to obtain licenses to use copyrighted material in Britain and across Europe; stimulate learning, R & D and long-term business growth; create a technologically neutral regime which fosters experimentation: and reform contract laws to protect copyright exceptions.

These reforms would eliminate legal uncertainty, protect Britain’s economy and promote teaching and innovation. They would allow the use of modern digital research and archiving techniques so that they don’t block innovation. For instance, copyright law currently makes it illegal to edit, remix or translate content which consumers have purchased, preventing new product development.

Britain remains a world leader in creativity and digital innovation. A modern copyright system is essential to ensure the British economy, rather than our competitors, reaps the benefits.