Issues of copyright and intellectual property affect Rutgers faculty and instructors in their role of published authors as well as in the role of educators. While the university policy on copyright covers issues of authorship, it does not provide much guidance on fair use of other's work for education.
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry is lobbying heavily to stop the "piracy" made possible by the internet. New laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act have been passed that, while intended to protect intellectual property authorship, may have unintended consequences on educational use.
Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University Law School has recently published a book on the effects of the new copyright laws on cultural freedom. He raises some important questions that will concern faculty both as authors and educators.
The book, Free Culture is available for free at Lessig's web site, and we have a copy here (right-click to download or save) for quicker access on the campus network. As might be expected for a book on Free Culture, it is free to redistribute according to the terms of its Creative Commons License.
