Session 1P | Down the Copyright Rabbit Hole: the unexpected labor of copyright clearance in OER projects

Open Educational Resource projects are often spearheaded by faculty members who have extensive teaching and learning experience, but are less familiar with the additional work that goes into transforming an in-class resource into a public, open one. Transforming a learning resource into a true OER can involve complex copyright analyses and instructors are often not prepared for this additional work. This is where copyright librarians and OER support staff often step in to consult and suggest workflows that will make this work more manageable. This brief presentation will explain why copyright considerations for OER are different than other educational contexts and will outline workflows and strategies to help OER creators recognize and prepare for this additional labor. Note, while the presenter is Canadian and Canadian copyright law differs from US law, this presentation will be general enough to be applicable in the US context.