Copyright Untangled - Fixing copyright for the 21st Century

Delia Browne, Paul Keller, Alek Tarkowski, Teresa Nobre The
internet age has created new possibilities for educational
practices and access to works held by museums, archives, and
libraries. We need copyright laws that enable teachers to provide
the best education they are capable of and that fits the needs of
teachers in the 21st century. Research has shown that copyright is
unnecessarily restrictive for teachers and that the fragmented
nature in Europe creates legal uncertainty among teachers. We also
need copyright laws that free libraries, archives, and museums from
unnecessary restrictions that prevent them from making their rich
collections available online. For the first time in more than a
decade, Europe is discussing an update of its copyright laws that
has the potential to address some of the limitations copyright law
places on online education and access to cultural heritage.
Unsurprisingly, the changes proposed by the European Commission in
September 2016 that are currently being discussed by the European
Parliament fail to deliver on such promises. Unless we are able to
substantially change the Commission's proposal, Europe will be
stuck with inflexible copyright rules that continue to limit the
potential of the internet in online learning and access to culture.
By comparison, Australia, following the lead of the US, Israel,
Singapore, Korea, and Canada, is considering the introduction of a
flexible fair use exception that would provide much more room for
online educational activities. This panel brings together copyright
reform activists from Creative Commons global network who will look
at what policies are needed to facilitate online learning and to
increase access to and reuse of culture and knowledge. We will
highlight the issues at stake and the opportunities for getting
engaged in efforts to make copyright fit for the 21st century. The
session will consist of two talks, one on Education by Delia Browne
and one on access to culture by Paul Keller, followed by a
discussion joined by Teresa Nobre, Timothy Vollmer, and Alek
Tarkowski.