Copyright Expert Gretchen McCord to Lead Discussions at Copyright Boot Camp
Muncie, IN (PRWEB) April 02, 2014 -- On April 23, 2014, copyright experts and educators from across the country will spend the day discussing vital copyright issues at the only copyright conference in the U.S. that addresses both K-12 and higher education. The Eleventh Annual Copyright Conference, with the theme “Copyright Boot Camp,” will be sponsored by and held at Ball State University.
Copyright specialist Gretchen McCord, legal consultant and trainer, was excited to receive an invitation to participate as an expert, speaker, and moderator this year. “If you are at all involved in copyright issues in the educational arena, whether as an educator, attorney, administrator, or librarian, you want to be part of this conference,” she said. “It is truly an honor to be joining this group of authorities, some of whom I have consulted for guidance in developing my own expertise.”
Ms. McCord will moderate and participate in two panels of experts, one discussing recent court decisions and the other responding to questions from conference participants concerned about how to address real-life situations they face on the job.
“I look forward to these discussions,” Ms. McCord says, “because I suspect our methods for crafting solutions may differ somewhat.”
Ms. McCord will also present two programs during the conference, one explaining the necessity of well-designed copyright policies and the other analyzing how copyright fair use applies to course – also called “learning” – management systems. “Both of these topics become increasingly crucial in the context of online education and using digital resources generally,” she explains.
“All of our speakers have established reputations as experts in their field of copyright law at both national and international levels,” says Fritz Dolak, Manager of the Ball State University Copyright and Intellectual Property office, and coordinator of the conference. “We are particularly thrilled that Ms. McCord is able not only to join us for the first time this year, but also to lead both of our all-conference, all-speaker panels.”
Dwayne Buttler, Evelyn J. Schneider Endowed Chair for Scholarly Communications at the University of Louisville and a frequent speaker at the Copyright Conference, describes the conference as “unique in that it affords participants an opportunity to engage in real discussion about real questions central to their daily work. It also features a range of perspectives on inevitably complex copyright challenges holding little likelihood of simple resolution without careful and reasoned consideration.”
Other repeat speakers also praise the conference for its spirit of collegiality across disciplines and types of institutions, and for the many opportunities for attendees to interact with experts in a meaningful way.
“What impresses me is that a community of educators, librarians, and lawyers comes together to share information and discuss current copyright issues in a pragmatic and collaborative way,” says Nazareth A. Pantaloni, Assistant Director for Copyright and Administration at the Cook Music Library, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. “There is a real spirit of camaraderie and generosity in sharing information and discussing problems. That climate creates a positive, non-threatening learning environment for the participants.”
Professor Tomas Lipinski, of the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science, emphasizes the benefit to attendees of hearing the experts discuss issues amongst themselves. “This is a valuable aspect for participants, since copyright analysis is not always cut and dried but often nuanced,” he says.
Donna L. Ferullo, Director of the University Copyright Office at Purdue University, adds that the conference provides “a great forum for networking.”
Professor Lipinski praises the organizers’ “fabulous job” in “selecting topics that are either timely or that approach ongoing issues from alternative perspectives. The conference continues to be fresh in this sense and, dare I say, addictive.”
To register or learn more about the conference, see the Ball State University website: cms.bsu.edu/academics/libraries/collectionsanddept/copyright/copyrightconference
Gretchen McCord, Digital Information Law, http://www.digitalinfolaw.com, +1 512.470.8932, [email protected]
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