OSS Watch IPR and Licensing Workshop

by Rowan Wilson on 1 April 2004

Introduction

IPR and Licensing Workshop

The first of OSS Watch’s focused workshops for an invited group of experts to explore a key topic in depth. __

Workshop Goal

The goal of this workshop is to investigate the issues surrounding the use of open source licensing within UK higher and further education. To this end, up to 10 experts in intellectual property law, open source software development, and business development, will gather in Oxford on 26-27 April 2004 to explore and debate the issues. The workshop will result in two deliverables:

  • a guide for UK HE/FE software developers and their managers to help clarify some of the core issues surrounding their generation of intellectual property and its potential release under open source licences;
  • a report for UK HE/FE senior managers, principals, vice-chancellors and other interested parties, which explores the broader context, both challenges and opportunities, of OSS exploitation and use in UK HE/FE. Both deliverables will be made available on the OSS Watch website.

Workshop Format

This OSS Watch workshop brings together a group of experts from across UK HE/FE and beyond. Each participant will make an informal presentation on their specialism, followed by facilitated discussion. Collectively they will debate the issues, explore the context in detail, and bring their expertise to bear upon the above substantial deliverables. Topics under discussion include:

  • Intellectual Property in Software Development
  • UK Education IP Policy
  • Commercialisation of University IP
  • Open Source Licensing for Academic Software Development Projects
  • The Future of Open Source