Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

(2020) 71(4) Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly OA35

King's College London Law School Research Paper 2020-44

26 Pages Posted: 3 Jun 2020 Last revised: 12 Dec 2020

See all articles by Emily Hudson

Emily Hudson

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Paul Wragg

School of Law, University of Leeds

Date Written: June 3, 2020

Abstract

This article asks whether the catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic justifies new limitations or interventions in copyright law so that UK educational institutions can continue to serve the needs of their students. It describes the existing copyright landscape and suggests ways in which institutions can rely on exceptions in the CDPA, including fair dealing and the exemption for lending by educational establishments. It then considers the viability of other solutions. It argues that issues caused by the pandemic would not enliven a public interest defence to copyright infringement (to the extent this still exists in UK law) but may be relevant to remedies. It also argues that compulsory licensing, while permissible under international copyright law, would not be a desirable intervention, but that legislative expansion to the existing exceptions, in order to encourage voluntary collective licensing, has a number of attractions. It concludes by observing that the pandemic highlights issues with the prevailing model for academic publishing, and asks whether COVID may encourage universities to embrace in-house and open access publishing more swiftly and for an even greater body of material.

Note: Update 24 August 2020: This paper has been published, with some updates and minor revisions, in the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly.

Keywords: Copyright, education, fair dealing, public interest, compulsory licensing, COVID-19, pandemic

Suggested Citation

Hudson, Emily and Wragg, Paul, Proposals for Copyright Law and Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic (June 3, 2020). (2020) 71(4) Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly OA35, King's College London Law School Research Paper 2020-44, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3617720 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3617720

Emily Hudson (Contact Author)

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

Somerset House East Wing
Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

Paul Wragg

School of Law, University of Leeds ( email )

Woodhouse Lane
Leeds, LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.leeds.ac.uk/about/staff/wragg.php

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