Ready for some negative press?
As we know, Canadian publisher groups are vehemently opposed to current practices of educational fair dealing, and have developed lobbying and public relations arguments that oftentimes omit, downplay, or distort basic facts in what has
become a rather divisive and polarised debate. Now someone in this copyright maximalist camp seems to be proffering a complete misrepresentation of the intellectual property aspects of open educational resources. In the article linked below, a Canadian publisher
oddly suggests that fair dealing laws are also to blame for the rise of OER:
See the paragraph starting with “And it has also enabled a “scavenging” of the information industry…”
Maybe this is not new, but I have not observed this tactic before. I suppose this story is good reminder we need informed answers at the ready to respond to inaccurate or irrelevant accusations, such as conflating OER practices with copyright
infringement.
-Martin
Martin Warkentin
Copyright Librarian
University of the Fraser Valley
33844 King Road, Abbotsford, BC
Canada V2S 7M8
(604) 504-7441 Ext. 4460