"Someone owns just about everything. Fair use lets you use their things -- but not as much as you'd like to. Sometimes you have to ask for permission. Sometimes you are the owner -- think about that! Any questions?" So begins Georgia Harper's popular and highly regarded online tutorial on copyright and fair use at http://www3.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm#top .

Harper, manager of the Intellectual Property Section of the Office of General Counsel for the University of Texas System, will speak on "Copyright Law and Cyberspace" at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in 133 Warren Hall on the Cornell University campus.

Harper has been on the forefront of debate about the constitutionality of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was designed to regulate intellectual property in cyberspace. In particular Harper argues that the law gives unfair advantage to copyright owners and unduly restricts 'fair use' by the public. Fair use refers to the provision of the law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without prior permission as, for example, in certain educational activities.

The talk is sponsored by the Cornell Computer Policy and Law Program.

Harper conducts local, state, regional and national workshops and seminars on copyright issues and has been an adviser to the Association of American Universities, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, the American Council on Education, and the National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage in connection with its Copyright and Fair Use Town Meetings. She was named a fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys in June 2001.