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PIDP Group 6 wiki on __copyright__
The right to copy has massive implications in this age of information technology. If one is not protected, one's intellectual property is quickly swept away into the giant web of information we call the internet. Others may obtain copyright and benefit from your original ideas, or they may become part of the public commons and their authorship and origin may never be known. But where did this idea of owning ideas come from?

The very first copyright law was Britain's 1710 Statute of Anne, which gave the "Authors and Proprietors" of books exclusive rights to their works for as long as twenty-eight years, provided they pay a fee to list their works in the "Register-Book of the Company of Stationers" (Hyde, 2010, p.4). The [|University of Campbridge Library] offers a concise history of The Copyright Act of Queen Anne -- "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies." It speaks of the issues of copyright from the libraries perspective, concerning itself only marginally with the copyright holders and the public.

Time have changed since 1710, and we presently find ourselves in the age of information technology. The dissemination of information is rampant and making sure it is done legally and with respect to the originator is a very complex issue. By and large, copyright is in place to protect both the end user and the initial creator, but getting permission to copy from the copyright holder each time would become too time consuming and not practical. Something called the Interim Tariff provides pre-authorized clearance to use millions of works to create customized paper material, day-to-day paper copies and much more.

For more information about tariffs, t he Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (__ [|AUCC]  __) has prepared the following document which explains what a copyright tariff is: []

Find out more about copyright by linking to this wiki's sections on Access Copyright, Creative Commons, Michael Geist's Blog, tutorials and videos, and of course other group projects by other members of VCC's 3240 Media Enhanced Learning June 6th - July 31st.

From understanding comes fair use. From copyright education comes transparency.