Copyright in the Era of Community

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.