Copyright First Responders Program

Today librarians and other information professionals can hardly escape the conundrum of intellectual property law, especially copyright. As our work increasingly encompasses copyright-intensive programs and projects, questions arise about topics such as digitization, public domain, fair use, e-media, scholarly publishing, streaming media, MOOCs, and more. Libraries represent the careful balance in copyright law: they serve both the economic and “use and access” purposes of copyright. Libraries are, therefore, economic engines of both copyright law and knowledge distribution. The Copyright First Responders (CFR) training, created by Kyle K. Courtney, Copyright Advisor at Harvard Library, was designed to create a network of copyright experts across the cultural institutions in the U.S. Under Kyle’s leadership over the last 6 years, the CFR program has extended from its origins at Harvard Library to Oregon, Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, and, for this new cohort, Massachusetts. Join Kyle as he teaches both fundamental and advanced copyright topics for libraries and other cultural institutions, drawing on case law, anecdotes, and his own research, in a multi-day informative and interactive copyright immersion program.

Kyle K. Courtney, attorney and librarian, is the Copyright Advisor at Harvard University, working out of Harvard Library’s Office for Scholarly Communication. He works closely with Harvard University to establish a culture of shared understanding of copyright issues among Harvard staff, faculty, and students. His “Copyright First Responders” initiative is in its sixth year, and has spread beyond Harvard to reach libraries, archives, and cultural institutions across the United States. He presently teaches Cyberlaw: Privacy Ethics and Digital Rights as well as two sections of Legal Research for the first-year legal research and writing program at Harvard Law. In 2014, he helped launch Fair Use Week. He holds a J.D. with distinction in Intellectual Property Law and an MSLIS. He is a published author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of copyright, technology, libraries, and the law. His website is http://kylecourtney.com and on Twitter @KyleKCourtney

A block of rooms is being held at the Springhill Suites that is connected to the conference center at a discounted rate of $139 per night. This rate must be booked by Wednesday, 9/11/19. Please book through this link to receive the discount.