2020 Conference Schedule and Handouts

Conference Introduction
Presented by: Martin Garnar

Introduction to Kraemer Copyright Conference plus other announcements.

Pre-Conference - Copyright Boot Camp
Presented by: Kyle K. Courtney & Sandra Aya Enimil

This session is designed for individuals with limited previous exposure to copyright law. It will cover copyrightability, the public domain, author rights, and the rights of users of copyrighted content. Participants will have the opportunity to apply what they've learned to a series of hypothetical scenarios.

Coaching Copyright
Presented by: Kevin Smith

Librarians are sometimes assigned responsibility for copyright issues based on interest, but without much training. This presentation will focus on how librarians can approach these situations by thinking of themselves as coaches, whose job is to guide others to make good decisions. We will discuss a framework for approaching copyright problems that can be used to assist others to examine their particular situations.

In Search of the Public Domain
Presented by: Sandra Aya Enimil

If your organization is interested in uncovering public domain content in your collections, this talk is for you. The public domain exists to balance the rights of authors/creators and users of creative content. Most works published in the US in 1924, or earlier, are now part of the public domain and works will be added to the public domain every year. Many cultural heritage institutions have digitized parts of their collections and made them available online. Several of these institutions are considering projects to evaluate rights information for persons interested in reusing the content. With the opening of the public domain, clarifying rights can also reveal public domain materials. This talk will provide an overview of the public domain and offer some suggestions and recommendations on what to consider if your organization plans to start a rights review initiative.

Copyright and Libraries During the Pandemic: Emergency, Temporary, and Controlled
Presented by: Kyle K. Courtney

To promote public health and slow the spread of COVID-19, thousands of universities and colleges closed campuses and libraries as they moved to remote teaching and research. This movement to an online environment brought about new and, frankly, overdue conversations about copyright law, access, and collections in libraries. The library community responded and launched many solutions that empowered, enhanced, and increased online access to collections. Join Kyle K. Courtney in session reviewing of the many "emergency, temporary, or controlled" digital libraries that rely on the powerful copyright exceptions under fair use, first sale, and section 108 exemptions for archives & libraries, to enhance access – including a review of some of the laws, cases, commentary, and risk surrounding these new methods of access.

Conference Introduction
Presented by: Martin Garnar

Introduction to Kraemer Copyright Conference plus other announcements.

Copyright Issues with Online Teaching: Assisting Professors with Shifting Courses Online
Presented by: Sara Rachel Benson

Many faculty are relying on librarians for assistance in moving in-person classes to digital only or hybrid classroom structures.  Faculty may have felt comfortable with copyright implications in the in-person classroom, but they may struggle with the online format.  This discussion will walk you through common copyright issues with online instruction that you can pass along to faculty and students alike.

Copyright at the Supreme Court and Other Updates, Especially on the Public Domain
Presented by: Kevin Smith

The past year has been very active for copyright law, with three cases before the Supreme Court and several pieces of legislation that impact the scope of the public domain.  We will take a whirlwind tour of developments and look out particularly for ways Congress and the courts have readjusted the boundaries of the public domain. 

Open Licenses: Common Misconceptions and/or Misunderstandings
Presented by: Nancy Sims

Open licenses (such as Creative Commons licenses) were developed in part as a response to the impoverishment of the public domain due to repeated expansions of copyright term and eligibility. Today they play many of the same roles that the public domain does - ensuring broad access to and usability of creative works. Many libraries have made use of open licenses to provide expanded access to their collections - but sometimes these uses have been somewhat legally confused. Open licenses rest on the foundation of existing copyrights, and libraries do not usually own the copyrights to items in our collections. Moreover, public domain works have no extant copyrights, and thus cannot be open-licensed. This session will break down the differences between the two somewhat-similar concepts and address a few common misconceptions.

Sunken Treasure, Rock Music, and COVID-19: Has Copyright Lost Its Compass?
Presented by: Kenneth Crews

With the growing role of copyright in industry and daily life, we can expect interested parties and the government to get more deeply involved. Congress enacted a new regime of statutes to give a quasi-copyright protection for early sound recordings. The Supreme Court is taking up a couple of cases each year lately, elevating the importance of judicial action for understanding the law. Meanwhile, changing needs and opportunities have pressed libraries, publishers, universities, and other interested parties into action. But with so many players stepping up their action, do we have any guiding principles? Do we have a sense of direction? Do we even know where we want to go? We will explore these questions and more – and discover new insights and maybe still leave perplexed.