The Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) Presents “Meet The Expert” Marion Smith, CSU Dominguez Hills Accessible Technology v. Copyright Law March 18,

The Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) Presents

“Meet The Expert” Marion Smith, CSU Dominguez Hills

Accessible Technology v. Copyright Law

March 18, 20101. Please use a headset or your computer speaker. Put microphones on MUTE.2. The CC in the Menu Bar opens Closed Captioning. Captions are provided by Rapid Text.3. Chat will be used for questions to the presenter.4. This presentation is being recorded and placed on the Professional Development Website5. Produced by: Jean Wells, [email protected]

Accessible Technology v. Copyright Law Topics

• Copyright 101• Fair Use 101• Accessible Technology 101• Seeking Solutions• Resources

Copyright 101 “Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the

U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.“

Copyright in General (2006, July 12). Retrieved February 22, 2010, from

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html

The Copyright Acts

The Copyright Act of 1976 is the primary basis of copyright law in the United States.

– Modifications, called “sections”, are added when needed.

Issues introduced by the Internet are addressed in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA).

Copyright Protection

Copyright protection exists as soon as the work is put into a tangible form. The work does not have to be published.

Registration is required only if the owner intends to seek a claim of violation.

Never Protected by Copyright

Facts, slogans, titles

Works of the U.S. Government

Copyright Owners’ Rights

Reproduce Prepare derivative works Distribute to the public 1

Publicly perform 2

Publicly display

1 This is the issue with illegal file-sharing.2 This is the issue with ringtones [No, really.]

How Long is the Work Protected?

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

Fair Use 101

Under the fair use doctrine of 1976, you can use limited portions of a work for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports without seeking permission of the copyright owner.

There are no specific rules about the number of words, the number of musical notes, or the percentage of a work.

The Four Factors of Fair Use

1. The purpose and character of the use;

2. The nature of the copyrighted work;

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion taken; and

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market.

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002

For accredited, non-profit U.S. educational institutions

Copyright-protected materials can be used in distance education—on Web sites and with other digital means—without permission from the copyright owner and without payment of royalties

The TEACH Act Requires…

That the institution provide a “notice to students that materials used in connection with the course may be subject to copyright protection.”

That protected material is “solely for…students officially enrolled in the course for which the transmission is made.”

Accessible Technology 101

The CSU Board of Trustee’s Executive Order 926 (EO 926) makes a commitment to accessible technology: "It is the policy of the CSU to make information technology resources and services accessible to all CSU students, faculty, staff and the general public regardless of disability.“

The Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) implements EO 926.

CSU ATI’s Phase 2

“By 2012, all websites will be accessible, all instructional materials in electronic formats will be accessible, and all purchases of technology will conform to accessibility standards – and alternative means of access will be provided for any exceptions.”

From Policy to Enabling Implementation (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2010, from http://www.calstate.edu/accessibility/phase2/

No Surprise: There are Issues

Both Adobe and Amazon have been criticized by reading disabled groups for allowing works to be distributed as “sound proof books,” with text to speech disabled.

Accessible Works, Standards (2009, April 22). Retrieved February 24, 2010, from<http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sccr/comments/2009/ress.pdf>

Amazon’s Kindle DX

Advocates for the blind sued Arizona State University during Summer 2009 because of ASU’s use of the Kindle DX in instruction. In turn, ASU sued Amazon.

Now ASU has withdrawn its suit against Amazon, and Amazon has added accessibility features (spoken menu navigation and large print mode) to the Kindle DX.

Seeking Solutions

The United States is a Member State of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and an active member of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).

WIPO proposes exceptions and limitations on copyright law for education, libraries, and persons with print disabilities.

Still to be Addressed Disabilities other than print, including:

– Impaired hearing

– Color blindness

– Photosensitive seizure disorders

Campus Solutions

Encourage faculty to select electronic instructional material (for ease of conversion to alternate format). See Sacramento State’s Instructional Materials Accessibility Checklist.

Encourage faculty to select textbooks from publishers who provide alternate formats, including loose-leaf versions that can be scanned.

CSUDH Solutions

Faculty receiving new laptops have to attend a workshop that includes accessibility training.

Links to the CSU’s “Fundamentals of Copyright and Fair Use” as a Word file and an MP3 file are posted on the Assistive Technology Locations/Features Web page.

Current/Recent Copyright Cases

UCLA streaming video case– Librarians to colleges: Keep on streaming,

http://newteevee.com/2010/02/22/librarians-to-colleges-keep-on-streaming/

The Shepard Fairey case– Candidate Barack Obama’s striking

red/white/blue HOPE poster

– Fair use? Fairey hopes so.

Copyright/Accessibility Cases

Copyright Owners Fight Plan to Release E-Books for the Blind,” Wired.com, 11 December 2009

DOJ, schools settle over Kindle’s blind access,” Cnet.com, 13 January 2010

Resources – Copyright and Fair Use Copyright

– Fundamentals of Copyright and Fair Use, Office of the General Counsel, California State University, July 2007

– The Copyright Office, http://www.copyright.gov/ Fair Use

– Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002

– The University of Texas – The TEACH Act Finally Becomes Law

– Stanford Copyright & Fair Use

Resources – Accessible Technology

CSU Board of Trustee’s Executive Order 926 (EO 926)

U.S. Copyright Office – Facilitating Access for the Blind or Other Persons with Disabilities

Section 508: The Road to Accessibility NIMAS at CAST.org - “Accessible Textbooks:

The Copyright Conundrum”

Resources – Accessibility & Copyright

University of Missouri’s “Legal Issues: Copyright, Accessibility, and FERPA”

PEPNet, the Postsecondary Education Programs (having a focus on persons who are deaf or hard of hearing)

Questions? Please post questions in the CHAT box

The ATI Would Like to Thank Our Expert

Marion SmithCSU Dominguez Hills

Accessible Technology v. Copyright Law

March 18, 2010A recording of this session will be posted at the

Professional Development Website for Accessibility http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/access

Produced by: Jean Wells, [email protected] All Rights Reserved, 2010 ©