Deal with IP issues

VoIP IP Telephony @ http://snapvoip.blogspot.com
I picked up this gem of an article about dealing with IP issues. It is written in very simple format and yet tells you exactly need to handle Intellectual property matters.
So this article is not written by me and shamelessly lifted from USU, Utah State University's COSL, the Center for Open Sustainable Learning. You can read about this and more at this link.

Dealing with IP

When you locate content that is IP-problematic, you have three options. You can replace the object, you can remove it, or you can get permission to use it from the copyright holder. There are various reasons why you might choose one of these options over another. These reasons depend on your situational constraints such as your resources, access to copyright holder information, and how crucial the object is for learners to understand the course content.

	Replace the problematic content with something from a free and open repository. Or, recreate it yourself if you can. Images often fall into the "replace it" category. Consider this option if... ...the course will suffer from the removal of the object ...you are comfortable with creating multi-media content objects ...you have the resources (primarily time) to replace the object
	Remove the problematic content from the course entirely. Some content such as clip art has little to no instructional value. Having a faculty member ok the removal of these objects can save you a good deal of time. Consider this option if... ...removal of the object will not cause the course to suffer ...you don't have the resources to replace the object ...getting permission for using the object would be difficult
	Get permission from the person or organization who holds the copyright on the material. Published journal articles are a good example of objects in this category. Some publishing companies will even grant or sell you permission upon request. Consider this option if... ...you can locate the person or organization who holds the copyright ...the cost for obtaining permission (including time) is not prohibitive

For a closer look at how MIT deals with IP issues, see their Rules for IP Objects (PDF) (XLS).
MIT has also developed a useful guide to working with photos (PDF).

Tags: IP, Intellectual property