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Copyright in the Era of Community

Image of Joanne Lustig

Author: Joanne Lustig, Vice President & Lead Analyst

In this era of community and connectivity, when the ease and immediacy of communication are fundamental, the perceptions, laws, and practices around copyright and protection of intellectual property are frequently challenged. Outsell conservatively estimates the traffic in information sharing among knowledge workers in the US to be 370 billion events per year – a nearly six-fold increase over our 2005 estimate. This staggering amount of activity represents a huge challenge for organizations and institutions striving to oversee copyright compliance. In this report we examine knowledge workers’ behaviors and perceptions around information-sharing and copyright now as compared with 2005, and recommend actions for information managers. The report contains:

- Outsell data on content-sharing behaviors and perceptions within the enterprise based on our surveys in 2009 and 2005;
- Review and analysis of three keys around copyright - education, enablement, and enforcement;
- A look at the tools available to enterprises for stewarding copyright compliance and to rights holders for protecting their intellectual property;
- Recommended actions for information managers grappling with copyright compliance.


Pub Date: January 28, 2010
Type: Briefing, Information Management Report
Segments: IM
Keywords: Copyright, Vendor Portfolio Management, Content Management, Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Pages: 28
Format: PDF Application_pdf

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Table of Contents

  • Why This Topic?
  • Methodology
  • Users and Copyright – Current Perceptions
  • Sharing Behaviors
    1. Sharing Through New Media
  • Perceptions about Information Use and Sharing
    1. Inside or Outside – It’s All Good
  • Compliance Management
    1. The Variance between Policy and Practice
  • Enabling the Enterprise: Stakeholders, Suppliers, and Tools
    1. Education
    2. Making It Easier to Do It Right
    3. A Word about Enforcement
  • Imperatives for Information Managers

    • Tables & Figures

  • Figure 1. Copyright Consideration Then and Now
  • Figure 2. Frequency of Information Sharing
  • Figure 3. Number of Times per Week Information is Forwarded, by Organization Size – Then and Now
  • Figure 4. Number of People Information Forwarded To, by Organization Size – Then and Now
  • Table 1. Information Sharing Preferences, by Method
  • Table 2. Information Sharing Preferences by Age Group
  • Figure 5. Sharing Free Information – Then and Now
  • Figure 6. Sharing Purchased Information – Then and Now
  • Figure 7. Mission-Critical Use – Then and Now
  • Figure 8. Sharing Portal Information Inside the Organization – Then and Now
  • Figure 9. Sharing Portal Information Outside the Organization – Then and Now
  • Figure 10. Organizational Protection – Then and Now
  • Figure 11. Obtaining Permission – Then and Now
  • Figure 12. Commercial Purposes – Then and Now
  • Figure 13. Organizational Copyright Policies
  • Figure 14. Frequency of Communicating Copyright Policy
  • Figure 15. Format for Communicating Copyright Policy
  • Figure 16. Key Go-To for Copyright or Licensing Questions