A key aim of the ASR2 Project is to negotiate over the intellectual property rights for approximately 20,000 recordings.  This is a complex undertaking requiring detailed research, legal support and negotiation.  We need to do this so that researchers and educators in institutions of Further and Higher Education can use the ASR2 recordings in a variety of academic contexts.  Audio is a particularly complex area in intellectual property because fair-dealing provisions for recordings are almost nonexistent within the UK Copyright Act.

Last week, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) launched its report Taking Forward the Gowers Review on Intellectual Property - Proposed Changes to Copyright Exceptions.  The report makes a number of proposals relating to the use of sound recordings.  UK-IPO is seeking feedback from interested parties.  If you use sound in teaching, learning or research - or perhaps feel prohibited from doing so - this presents a great opportunity to let your views be known.

Peter Findlay. ASR Project Manager