Copyright and Fair Use in Communications Research: The State of the Field

Session Submission Type: Paper Session

Abstract

Fair use—the limited right in the U.S., Israel and a few other jurisdictions to use unlicensed copyrighted material—should enable communications scholarship in a digital era. Remix, big data research, multimedia publishing, software studies and more all depend on it. But are ICA members using their rights? Are they teaching their students their rights? Is it even clear to us how fair use works for our community? ICA’s 2009 Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Communication Scholarship (on the ICA website) has promoted awareness, but many scholars remain unsure about how to use it, publishers sometimes balk, and many other countries lack equivalent exceptions for scholars.

This session opens up a long-awaited discussion of roadblocks to employing fair use, what ICA is doing to overcome them for our field, and what we should be doing. This knowledge-sharing session will educate scholars new to fair use, boost skills in negotiating with publishers, and offer a platform for success stories.

The conversation will culminate in a list of suggestions for ICA actions to increase the accessibility of copyright exceptions for communication scholars.

Sub Unit

• Sponsored Sessions

Chair

• David W. Park, Lake Forest College

Participants

• Larry Gross, U of Southern California

• John Paul Gutierrez, International Communication Association

• Elisia L. Cohen, U of Minnesota

• Patricia A. Aufderheide, American U

• Francois Heinderyckx, Université libre de Bruxelles