Update, Aug. 20, 2007: In 2007, the Standing Committee on Copyright was merged into the Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Committee (SLASIAC) and is no longer active. At a joint meeting on May 3, 2006, the Committees agreed to recommend to the Provost to combine SLASIAC and SCC to form a comprehensive group that can evaluate, discuss and advise on matters concerning the academic use of scholarly information. The copyright policy development responsibilities of the SCC have been vested in a SLASIAC Standing Subcommittee on Copyright Policy, which was appointed on July 24, 2007.

The Standing Committee on Copyright's website is no longer being updated. [8/20/07]

Over many decades, the complex balance between the law of copyright, institutional tradition, business processes, and individual practice has evolved in ways that generally served the interests of institutions, individuals, and the public. Rapid changes in technology, law, and business are now compelling reexamination by all parties of their historic assumptions and practices. As a result of these forces, the environment in which copyrighted works are created, published and used by the University’s academic community is expected to be highly fluid for at least the next decade. Broad and ongoing consultation, continuous planning, and carefully-considered strategic action will be needed to inform the evolutionary development of policies and practices that can successfully meet the challenges raised by this period of turbulence and transition.

To help provide the guidance needed by the University, the Standing Committee on Copyright:

• Encourages and monitors projects that make innovative use of copyrighted works, regardless of format, and assist faculty and students to both produce new works and make use of the works of others in ways consistent with law, policy, and the academic mission of the University;
• Monitors the copyright environment and makes recommendations to the University on how to align University copyright policy and management with the goals of the academic mission in the context of continuous and rapid change;
• Monitors technological restrictions and contract practices that impede fair use and the advance of knowledge;
• Recommends priorities and methods for continuous Universitywide education on copyright;
• Assesses the implications of new legislation for University policy and practice; and
• Makes recommendations about substantive participation in national discussions and initiatives.

The Committee, established in early 2000, reports to the Provost and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs, and is chaired by Ellen Wartella, Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost at the University of California, Riverside.