Welcome
Welcome to the JISC Legal newsletter covering what's been happening in March 2011.
We have a busy month coming up in April. In particular, we’d like to draw your attention to our upcoming webcast on ‘Recording Lectures and Screencasts’, which you can watch free on Wednesday, 13 April. All you need is a broadband internet connection and some speakers or headphones. Further information is available in the Events section below, or from http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Webcasts/RecordingLecturesWebcast.aspx.
Update: The Recording Lectures and Screencasts webcast is now available to view in bite-sized segments here.
We’d also like to remind you of a change to the law on Equality Duties that came into force this week, on 5 April. Further information can be found at http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/tabid/243/ID/1969/New-Equality-Obligations-in-Place-Today.aspx.
As with previous newsletters, this newsletter has three sections:
- Legal News Digest for FE and HE
- New JISC Legal Publications
- Upcoming JISC Legal Events
For up to the minute news, our full range of publications, our events diary and our three-day turnaround legal enquiry service, visit our website at www.jisclegal.ac.uk. Details of what's on offer from JISC Advance can be found at: http://www.jiscadvance.ac.uk/.
News
Scottish Information Commissioner Latest News Round Up
Inform, the Scottish Information Commissioner’s latest newsletter and commentary, contains a resume of relevant FOI related legal developments and recent decisions. It offers FOI officers in colleges and universities the opportunity to quickly update their awareness of current issues which they may have missed and this quarter includes a roundup of decisions considering whether remuneration -related information of public authority staff should be disclosed. It is available from the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website at http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/News/Newsletter/InformNewsletterJanMar2011.asp
Data Protection Rules Should be Based on the Risk of Harm
At present cloud computing service providers may become subject to the EU Data Protection Directive's regime purely through their users' choices. It is argued that the realistic risk of identification and the risk of harm and its likely severity should be the basis of the application of the data protection legislation. Data encrypted and secured to recognised standards should not be considered 'personal data' in the hands of those without access to the decryption key, such as many cloud computing providers it is claimed. These are the conclusions of a series of research papers by the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary, University of London which can be accessed online at - http://www.cloudlegal.ccls.qmul.ac.uk/Research/index.html.
Cloud Computing Toolkit Available
This toolkit aims to guide information professionals in assessing cloud computing services for information use and storage. The author suggests that the toolkit should be used as a starting point for assessment of the risks and benefits of outsourcing services and information storage to the cloud, and the development of a cloud strategy, specification or requirements for using cloud storage. The Cloud Computing Toolkit: Guidance for Outsourcing Information Storage to the Cloud is the result of an Archives & Records Association funded project with Aberystwyth University and is available from the ARA website at http://www.archives.org.uk/.
Budget Indicates Future Areas of Law Reform
The Budget supporting papers have indicated various proposed actions which will be of interest to higher and further education including a new Communications Act to respond to technological developments. Consideration will also be given to simplifying payments for copyright materials and freeing up orphan works but no further broad reviews of intellectual property law are proposed. The Intellectual Property Office will improve products and services available to UK businesses, and a guide to public sector IP procurement policy will be published. Further detail is available in the Digital and Creative Industries section at 2.216 of the HM Treasury Plan for Growth March 2011 available from the HM Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ukecon_growth_index.htm Direct link to the document at http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_growth.pdf. JISC Legal’s Law Watch page (at http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/LawWatch.aspx) will be regularly updated as the proposals develop
Delay to Equality Act Specific Equality Duties Announced
The Draft Equality Act (Statutory Duties) Regulations 2011 for England have been withdrawn by the government for further review. These regulations give detail on the specific duties placed on public bodies to help with the better delivery of the general equality duty. The stated approach of the revised regulations is to focus on results delivery and not performance of bureaucratic processes. Comments on the new draft regulations may be submitted until 21 April. Scotland has already announced a similar delay. This delay does not affect the general Equality Duty which will take effect on 5 April 2011. More information on the English position is available on the Government Equalities Office website at http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010/public_sector_equality_duty.aspx and for the Scottish position visit the EHRC Scotland website at http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/scotland/scottish-news/interim-advice-on-the-equality-act-scottish-specific-duties/
Personal Medical Information Dumped in a Skip
Personal information including dates of birth, bank details and medical information was dumped in a skip which was then stolen and the material containing the personal data was then discarded. The Council involved had a written contract in place with a company for secure disposal of personal data but the council employees had not recognised the material as confidential when disposing of it. This again illustrates the importance of training in data protection for all staff in colleges and universities who may be handling personal data including secure disposal. The Council has signed an undertaking with the ICO to ensure staff awareness and training in data protection and confidential waste management. The full Wolverhampton City Council undertaking is available on the ICO website at http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/promoting_data_privacy/taking_action.aspx#undertakings. Further guidance and links on data protection in colleges and universities is available on the JISC Legal website at http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/LegalAreas/DataProtection.aspx
Consultation Open on Draft Defamation Bill
The UK government has published its proposed Defamation Bill which is available for comment until 10 June 2011. The stated aim of the proposed reforms is to strike the right balance between protection of freedom of speech and protection of reputation. The Bill includes a new statutory defence to an action for defamation of responsible publication on a matter of public interest and the common law defences of justification and of fair comment are replaced with new statutory defences of truth, and of honest opinion. It is also proposed that defamation trials are heard without a jury. The Bill is applicable to England and Wales only. Defamation is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The consultation papers including the draft Bill are available on the Ministry of Justice website at http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/draft-defamation-bill-consultation.pdf
Successful Twitter Libel Action Results in Damages Award
The UK‘s first libel action arising from comments made via Twitter has resulted in a payment of £3,000 in damages and reportedly around £50,000 in legal costs when a councillor used twitter to make libellous claims about a political rival. It is thought that this is the first case in the UK regarding libel using Twitter and is a reminder to all those working in universities and colleges on the potential dangers of using social network sites to broadcast (often unintentionally) what may be construed to be a defamatory statement. The news story is at http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/courts-news/damages-awarded-first-uk-twitter-libel-action and more information on this area on JISC legal's website at http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/LegalAreas/Defamation.aspx
Universities and Colleges Sharing Research and Innovation
Results of the competition to improve the way publicly-funded institutions conduct research and manage their intellectual property rights have been announced. The 2011 Fast Forward Competition was designed to reward institutions working with business and the local community to create new companies or services to the benefit of the economy and society. Details of the successful projects are available on the IPO website at - http://www.ipo.gov.uk/about/press/press-release/press-release-2011/press-release-20110309.htm.
Scottish Information Commissioner Reports Increase in FOI Enquiries
The 2010 Annual Report of the Scottish Information Commissioner confirms the view in many colleges and universities that the public are increasingly making use of freedom of information laws and that this is set to continue in the current economic climate of spending cuts and the need for information on the reasoning behind the cuts. It is also reported that public authorities are becoming more comfortable with regard to release of information, the law is becoming embedded, and FOI principles of openness and transparency increasingly accepted. However widespread concern is reported on the rise in complex requests again at a time of economic downturn when there may be a reduction in resource to deal with the request. The full report published on 8 March 2011 is available from the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website at http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/yourhands/
New Guidance on Embedding CC Licences into Digital Resources
This short briefing paper, produced by the Strategic Content Alliance (SCA), demonstrates how the terms of Creative Commons (CC) licences can be embedded into a variety of resources, for example PowePoint, Word documents, images, podcasts, as well as various other audio visual resources.The document is a useful start point for FE and HE institutions on the lookout for guidance on embedding CC licences into digital resources.For more information on this and access to the briefing paper, please refer to the JISC website at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/programmerelated/2011/scaembeddingcclicencesbp.aspx.
New Law on Cookies Coming into Force
A new law, which will come into force on 25 May 2011, will require UK businesses and other organisations including FE and HE institutions to obtain consent from visitors to their websites in order to store on and retrieve usage information from users’ computers. The provisions will give people more choice and control over what information organisations can store on and access from their own computer. Because cookies are so widely used it is accepted that it will take time for meaningful solutions to be developed, evaluated and rolled out and it is not expected that the ICO will take enforcement action in the short term against organisations as they work out how to address their use of cookies. The exact steps that have to be gone through to comply with the law and gain consent from users are being drawn up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Further details on the ICO website at - http://www.ico.gov.uk/.
Commercialisation of Intellectual Property Services – New Standards
Inventors and businesses including FE and HE institutions will be able to choose between organisations providing services to inventors with more confidence following the publication by the British Standards Institution (BSI) of a new British Standard setting out for the first time good practice and principals of ethical behaviour for organisations providing services to inventors. The new standard will help inventors to understand what to expect when they begin the process of securing the intellectual property rights for an idea. The new standard BS 8538:2011 is available to purchaser from the British Standards Institution at - http://shop.bsigroup.com/.
Resolving Disputes Better – the new IDRAS newsletter
IDRAS, the Improving Dispute Resolution Advisory Service, offers a free email newsletter to help institutions improve how they approach disputes – a topical issue with increasing expectations and the growing focus on tuition fees. IDRAS is a new service set up to assist UK higher education with the effective and efficient resolution of disputes (with students, staff or external bodies). It promotes improvement of policies and procedures, and the appropriate adoption of alternative methods such as mediation and early neutral evaluation, with such approach likely to lower costs, reduce stress and avoid the ill-feeling that a blinkered resort to formal, adversarial and legalistic procedures often brings. JISC Legal has lent its experience to the development of IDRAS through membership of its board. The first two issues of the newsletter are available at http://www.idras.ac.uk/index.aspx?o=1572&newsletters=yes, as well as a link allowing you to subscribe. For further information on what IDRAS can do for your institution, visit their homepage at http://www.idras.ac.uk.
JISC Collections 2011 Workshops
This series of one day workshops will be of interest to those using licensed content in their teaching and learning. The topics include the JISC Model Licence - changes in 2011, JISC Electronic Licence and Comparison Tool, New JISC Collections content platforms and Open Access and other projects. Delegates will also be able to state their requirements and priorities with opprotunites to participate on the day. Further details of the dates and venues are available on the JISC Collections website at - http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/News/2011-workshop-registrations/.
JISC Summary of "Resources to help combat cybercrime"
With input from JISC Legal, JISC has put out a summary of "Resources to help combat cybercrime" - helping institutions avoid the consequences of being a victim of computer misuse, or being an inadvertent agent in some else's criminal activity. The news item can be found at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2011/02/cybercrime.aspx.
Publications
We have now published two new guidance documents relating to the JISC and Higher Education Academy Open Educational Resources Programme (Phase 2).
Strategic Management of IPR for OER in UK HE addresses some of the background issues regarding management of intellectual property rights (IPR) in UK universities. In particular, this guidance aims to assist institutions by prompting strategic decisions that may need to be taken in relation to the management of intellectual property, and to inform those decisions. The full paper is available here: http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/tabid/243/ID/1926/Strategic-Management-of-IPR-for-OER-in-UK-HE.aspx.
Legal Aspects of the Use of Child Images in OERs considers the legal issues which arise in relation to the taking of or possession of images (still and moving) of children for use in an Open Education Resource. The paper focuses on the law as it applies to the creator of an OER but the creator does have to bear in mind that what is done will have a legal risk impact on the subsequent users of the OER and the creator’s employer e.g. the institution as well as any repository where the OER may be stored. The full paper is available here: http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ViewDetail/tabid/243/ID/1927/Legal-Aspects-of-the-Use-of-Child-Images-in-OERs.aspx.
Events
Free JISC Advance Webcast on Recording Lectures and Screencasts (13/4/11)
Free and live to your desktop - JISC Advance brings you a practical, relevant guide to the legal, technical and accessibility issues involved in recording lectures and screencasts. At a time when lecture recording systems are becoming more common, and the demand is high for flexible access to learning, experts from JISC Legal, JISC Digital Media and JISC Techdis bring you the answers to the most common questions in order to ensure best practice with regards to legal compliance, accessibility and effectiveness. The webcast runs from 2pm – 4pm on Wednesday, 13 April 2011, it’s free, with no requirement to sign up beforehand – simply go to http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Webcasts/RecordingLecturesWebcast.aspx.
Eversheds, IDRAS & JISC Legal Seminar on "Student Expectations" (11/4/11, London)
Eversheds, IDRAS and JISC Legal will be holding a joint seminar on "Managing Student Expectations", in London, on Monday, 11 April, 10am-1pm. It is aimed at Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Academic Registrars, and senior managers interested in improving complaints handling systems, and will use a ‘worked example’ approach and include analysis of legal and practical aspects. Further information is available at http://www.idras.ac.uk/managing-student-expectations-reducing-and-resolving-student-disputes-in-the-post-browne-era/.
Contact Us
For general enquiries, contact us on 0141 548 4939 or send us an email.
JISC Legal, University of Strathclyde, Alexander Turnbull Building, 155 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RD
t: 0141 548 4939 f: 0141 548 4216 w: http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/JISCLegal
JISC Legal is hosted by the University of Strathclyde, a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC015263.
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