Resolved: The Committee hereby establishes a subcommittee chaired by Professor Leslie Ann Kurtz and consisting of three additional members with the charge to study the complex issues related to ownership and acceptable use of course content and materials created by UC faculty, students and staff, and make recommendations to the full Committee regarding proposed changes in policy and procedure that may be required to address these issues. The subcommittee will submit an interim report for the Committee’s Winter 2000 meeting (January-February 2000), and a final report and recommendations for the Committee’s Spring 2000 meeting (April-May 2000). The subcommittee will be supported in its work by the Committee staff and the UCOP Working Group on Copyright. As part of its charge, the subcommittee should address any changes in policy and procedure that may be required to ensure compliance with California Assembly Bill 1773.

Background:

The Committee finds that issues related to ownership and acceptable use of course content and course materials developed by UC faculty, students and staff are highly complex and characterized by multiple and conflicting interests of several constituencies, including the faculty, students, and staff (individually and collectively), the University as an institution, and various third parties (notably, but not exclusively, commercial interests). The challenge before the Committee is to understand and to develop strategies that can successfully balance these multiple interests, especially in the face of new technological capabilities, budgetary pressures, and business opportunities. The Committee believes that the best way to address these complexities over the course of the current academic year is to appoint a small subcommittee supported by and augmenting the limited staff support available for this effort. The subcommittee should, to the extent possible, represent the variety of constituencies and perspectives bearing on this issue. The advice and support of the UCOP Working Group on Copyright, which represents multiple copyright perspectives within the Office of the President, will also add a variety of critically-important viewpoints to the subcommittee’s deliberations.