About the series

The Opening Up Copyright (OUC) module series is made available by the University of Alberta Copyright Office. To learn more about the series, see our module OUC: An Introduction.

Opening Up Copyright’s goals are:

  • Broadening access to copyright information;
  • Advancing the values associated with openness and open content;
  • Reaching multiple audiences and avoiding duplication in resource development; and
  • Producing open educational resources (OER) about copyright that can serve as an enabler for other open education projects.

The instructional modules have the following characteristics:

  • The modules have five levels of instruction from basic to advanced meeting the needs of a wide variety of learners.
  • The modules are open to instructors and staff across campus, Canada, and around the globe.
  • The modules are openly licensed under a CC BY license.
  • The modules are interactive featuring popups, links and test questions through use of H5P.
  • The components that make up the modules include video, transcript, PowerPoint slides, and H5P. The files needed to reproduce and edit, modify, or adapt the modules are available for download from the Module Materials Collection in ERA.
  • Release of new modules: Modules are shared iteratively as they are produced. The series publicly launched in March 2018 with the first two modules “Public Domain” and “Images”.

Module Update Process 

A module review and update cycle has been established whereby each module will be reviewed, and updated as required, approximately every two years. These updates will incorporate any changes and create linkages with other modules developed in the series.

Acknowledgment

OUC modules have been produced with the assistance of funding at the University of Alberta through its Centre for Teaching and Learning’s Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF)(2017-21), with in‑kind contributions from the University of Alberta Copyright Office and School of Library and Information Studies.

Additional grants funded the production of the following modules:

Centre for Teaching and Learning’s OER Grant Program (2020)

  • Collective Licensing Agencies and the Copyright Board
  • Educational Institutions’ Policies and Practices
  • Copyright Act, Sections 29.4 – 30.03: Educational Institution Exceptions
  • Alberta (Education) v. Access Copyright

Support for the Advancement of Scholarship (SAS) grant (2021)

  • Copyright in the K-12 Context
  • Creating and Sharing Copyright-Protected Materials in the K-12 Context

For a more general overview of copyright issues relevant to university employees in Canada, see the Copyright Open Educational Resource for University Instructors and Staff created by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries.