This question raises an interesting issue regarding ‘access’ overseas and ‘transfer’ overseas but unfortunately the legal position is unclear. Read on to find out more. 

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A new Intellectual Property Bill proposes changes to the UK's intellectual property regime.

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The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA) received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013.

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The Bill is now an Act of Parliament.  It received Royal Assent on the 25 April 2013. 

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The purpose of the reforms is to ensure that defamation legislation is fit for modern times.  The Act aims to strike a balance between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation.

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Government commits April 2013 as the date for introducing Legal Deposit regulations for non-print materials.  The Non-Print Legal Deposit regulations enable the British Library and the UK legal deposit libraries to collect, store and preserve the nation's memory in the digital age. The content will include online articles and books, and websites.

 

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An English university, according to a BBC news story, sent an individual’s confidential documents to a former student with the same name.

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This FAQ deals with the permissions required along with accompanying restrictions for use of Microsoft copyright material. 

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This flowchart highlights steps to follow and relevant permissions required when seeking to release non public material in SCOOTER, an OER. 

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Redigi the online market place that permits users to resell their digital music 'secondhand' is in breach of copyright a US judge has held.

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UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including Sky, BT, Virgin Media and Talk Talk must block file-sharing websites Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy, the High Court has ruled.

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Institutions may be asked by the police for information about students or staff in order to help them with their investigations.  Unless presented with a court order, you may choose whether or not to supply such information.... (cont'd)

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Internet platforms can assume the role of publisher and become liable for defamation. 

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This paper considers the legal issues which may arise in relation to the use of e-assessment in UK further and higher education.

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The Court of Appeal decided that a health trust was justified in convening a disciplinary panel for gross misconduct for breach of confidentiality in relation to reading patient files and discussing patient details whilst on a train.

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Guidance from the Upper Tribunal on vexatious requests.

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Questions have arisen about the extent to which Skype guarantees privacy of calls made through it.

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The ICO plans to introduce "implied consent" in order to get more reliable usage information.

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The ICO has updated guidance on what HE institutions should publish in order to meet their FOI commitments.

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A recently published report by the Equality Challenge Unit presents examples of effective ways to approach digitisation and reformatting by colleges and universities.

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Delegates will examine the policy priorities as well as the development of innovation and skills for webspace that is secure and safe for UK citizens, business and government.

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The data generated by the survey provides a picture of the impact of information access legislation on the sector that is used within institutions for their own planning purposes. 

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The Government Consultation on the draft Code of Practice for public authorities to help them meet the new statutory duty to publish datasets ends on 10th January 2013.

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The ICO has announced that four public authorities (including the Department for Education) will be monitored in the new year over concerns about the timeliness of their responses to FOI requests. 

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Four local councils were issued significant civil monetary penalties for losing personal data.  

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The Information Commissioner's Office has produced a short film to help raise awareness of important data protection questions relevant to all sectors, including FE and HE.  

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The Cabinet Office has issued a draft code of practice for public authorities to help them meet the new statutory duty to publish datasets.

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The High Court has ruled that businesses do not have a general claim of ownership over the content of staff emails.

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The CLA has launched a new Code of Conduct which details how the agency will deal with its licence holders and other copyright users.

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Many consider that it’s good practice to obtain permission and judge that it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Most rights owners are likely to agree to usage which will promote their products.  

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Following on from our news story on the 8 October 2012, we can now confirm that the Directive has entered the Official Journal of the EU.

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As part of the Welsh Repository Network (WRN) project an interactive quiz regarding, copyright implications with multimedia deposits, was created for a repository staff training session. 

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As an employee you are required to comply with reasonable instructions from your employer. 

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The Scottish Information Commissioner has published her first Annual report which reveals that the number of appeals which relate to education institutions has decreased.

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The EU Parliament has formally approved the text of a new EU Directive on orphan works with 531 in favour versus 11 opposed (65 abstentions).

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The ERA licence scheme permits the making of recordings of broadcasts by or on behalf of an educational establishment for the non-commercial educational purposes of that establishment.

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Good records management is essential to efficient handling of FOI requests.

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Advice from the Department for Education on the Equality Act 2010 has been updated.

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The ICO has fined Scottish Borders Council £250,000 for failure to put in place appropriate guarantees on how data would be kept secure when it engaged an external company.

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The consultant will own the copyright in the materials created as part of the consultancy in the absence of an agreement to the contrary.

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Where a college employs students as apprentices and provides them access to MIS information as part of the responsibilities of their job and this enables them to view the records of other students this would not be a breach of data protection law in itself. 

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Nominet decisions cannot be appealed by the back door to the courts. Rightsholders and registrants must get a DRS action right in the first place.

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The seventh data protection principle provides that "Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken  ... (cont)

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Covert monitoring is surveillance of online activity without giving the users involved specific notification that this is going on.  It clearly has legal implications relating to ... (cont)

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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published new guidance which clarifies how colleges and universities can ensure compliance with the fifth principle of the Data Protection Act when archiving or deleting personal data.

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The High Court in Belfast recently ordered Facebook to identify anonymous account holders responsible for posting abusive messages about a Belfast company and its employees.

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Tell people what you are doing with their data, make sure staff are adequately trained, use strong passwords, encrypt portable devices and keep personal information only for as long as necessary.

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While organisations can publish equality and diversity information about staff in an aggregated form, this release of their personal information was unnecessary and a £175,000 penalty has been served. 

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A security breach at online storage service Dropbox highlights the need to consider a provider's security measures when using cloud services.

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