As a librarian, you can often be called upon to answer copyright queries from your users. Copyright education is an important part of information literacy teaching, particularly when supporting staff in the shift to online learning or when they are considering how to make their publications open access. Chris Morrison and Jane Secker believe that understanding how copyright exceptions work, and how you can rely on the concept of ‘fair dealing’ in the UK law, is an important part of copyright literacy. Sometimes it feels less risky to rely on a licence or get permission to re-use a copyright work, but the concept of fairness, when it comes to relying on copyright exceptions, is really central to providing a balance in the law. We need to copy other people’s work to teach, to quote from them, or even to entertain. Therefore we are delighted that the UK is participating in Fair Dealing / Fair Use week for the first time in 2022 and hope this becomes a regular feature on the events schedule of many UK libraries. If you’ve ever wondered how Fair Dealing differs from Fair Use, or what sorts of copying might be covered, then tune in to the series of events happening in the UK, and don’t forget to take a look at the full line up of events on the Fair Use Week website.
UK Fair Dealing Week Overview
Fair Dealing Week runs from 21st-25th February 2022. It provides opportunities for everyone in the education, research and cultural heritage communities to learn more about this valuable framework, as basics concepts, along with best practice, will be explored by copyright scholars and practitioners.
Along with colleagues in the ALT Copyright and Online Learning Special Interest Group (CoOLSIG), we have compiled a list of events listed below that both celebrate and provide information about the UK’s important framework of copyright fair dealing exceptions. Everyone with an interest in understanding more about how copyright works in practice is encouraged to attend these free online events.
Events
Friday 18th February
- A preview of the week ahead at the monthly ALT CoOL SIG copyright and online learning webinar. Jane Secker and Chris Morrison will be joined by others from the UK copyright community who are hosting events and giving a flavour of what’s to come, along with the usual copyright news and other regular features. This will take place at 11:00am (GMT) in the usual Blackboard Collaborate Classroom.
Monday 21st February
- The online launch event is being hosted by Chris Morrison and Dr Jane Secker. With Kyle K Courtney, Dr Emily Hudson at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), 6-7.30pm (GMT) on Zoom. The launch event will present the basic principles of Fair Dealing in the UK and focus on best practice, along with directing attendees to shared resources, including new guidance from the IALS. Book here.
Wednesday 23rd February
- The University of Kent will celebrate its strong tradition of creative reuse, by demonstrating how research, education and engagement at Kent are all underpinned by a copyright literacy strategy and associated policy which encourage Kent staff and students to make informed use of legal provisions. This online event will take place from 5:00pm – 6:30pm (BST), and is chaired by Chris Morrison, with Dr Richard Misek, Dr Ben Marsh, Dr Alexandra Covaci and Dr Jane Secker. Find out more and book here.
Thursday 24th February
- SCURL Copyright and Other Legal group, Fair Dealing Coffee Morning. The Challenge of Using Copyright Exceptions for Global Online Teaching with Debbie McDonnell, British Council. 10-11am (GMT). This informal online event will be kick started with a presentation from Debbie, where the challenges around using the Fair Dealing exceptions outside the UK will be explored, along with assessing the associated risk, and best practice. This will be followed up with Q&A/ discussion session. More details and booking.
- Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) Fair Dealing Panel Discussion. Primarily aimed at BLE members, join librarians and learning technologists to discuss what fair dealing means in practice. Held online. 2.30-4pm (GMT) Please contact s.sherman@ble.ac.uk to book a place.
With thanks to Greg Walters from Glasgow University for pulling together the list of events and writing the original blog post on which this is based.