Copyright for course readers

Stanford’s libraries dole out millions of dollars each year in copyright payments so that faculty, students and staff can have ready and easy access to published works. But when students purchase course readers for classes, they also are charged for copyright, often paying for the same rights the libraries already purchased.

Not anymore. The new Stanford Intellectual Property Exchange (SIPX), piloted last spring and launched more widely this fall in “print-on-demand” deployment for course readers, will prevent duplicate copyright payments and save students an estimated 25 to 78 percent of the usual cost. Researchers from the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (CodeX) and from Media X launched the new system to register and transact intellectual property for copyrighted materials used in course readers. It was developed by a multidisciplinary team jointly led by MICHAEL GENESERETH, associate professor of computer science and research director of CodeX, and ROLAND VOGL, lecturer in law and executive director of both CodeX and the Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology.

SIPX allows the print system to become “legally trained” to automate aspects of complex licensing processes, including accommodating customized copyright pricing and dynamically calculating royalty payments that account for pre-existing rights to content through Stanford library subscriptions.

“It’s a big savings—and a cool project. This is cutting edge,” says Vogl. Read more in Stanford Lawyer.