Research on the transmission of the Open University of Japan courses via multi-device apps oriented to the learning ecosystem

The spread of COVID-19 in 2020 has led to a situation where courses at Japanese universities were being held online as an emergency evacuation measure. Post-COVID-19, online lectures have been said to have permeated all universities. The response of the Open University of Japan (OUJ) has been to convert face-to-face lectures into online lectures in a format that utilized the contents of both broadcasting and online lectures, although online lectures were already available. At that time, in converting Japanese university courses to online lectures, the form of the OUJ’s broadcasting lectures was being oriented. Various types of online lectures were being considered, including material transmission type, video transmission type and simultaneous interactive type. The common viewpoint of online lectures was the communication savings for video viewing. In addition, online lectures had the issue of how to utilize a work made public.

Therefore, in terms of the learning ecosystem, reuse of existing university courses can be considered. One example is the reuse of broadcasting lectures (TV and radio) and online lectures through archiving. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish a system that facilitates the production, authoring and archiving of the linkage between broadcasting lectures (TV and radio) and online lectures, which is oriented toward their reuse. Its content composition will be a media-mix of video, audio and text. In addition, the Government of Japan has proposed that universities and other institutions promote the provision of educational programs utilizing e-learning. In particular, it has been proposed that the OUJ increase the number of qualification-related courses, open online courses and support viewing via smartphones and other devices (Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding, 2015). This response has already been implemented for viewing on iOS mobile devices (iPhone and iPad) and Android mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). However, some courses needed to be cut or processed in parts that are not permitted for transmission over the internet. Therefore, this paper proposes that an app is needed for the OUJ platform that enables the viewing of media-mix contents of broadcasting lectures as webcasting content on smartphones and other devices. “Webcasting is the wired or wireless transmission over a computer network of sound, images, or images and sound, or representations thereof, intended to be received by the public, by means of a signal that transmits a program offered to the public virtually simultaneously” (Draft Annex on Webcasting to the Convention for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Article 2 (a)).

“Learning ecosystems ^[1] comprises all services, resources, and environments within the institution that enable or support learning processes” (Otto and Kerres, 2023). The basic idea of a learning ecosystem is also to make effective use of existing learning content (Mikami, 2022). This paper presents two research cases oriented toward learning ecosystems. The first is an example of research of webcasting content as media-mix contents from seamless linkage between broadcasting lectures (TV lectures and radio lectures) and online lectures of existing the OUJ courses, based on the reuse of the OUJ course contents and clarification of the relationship between copyright and other rights for this purpose. The second is an example of research of multi-device apps (for Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac) for Internet transmission of webcasting content. If the former is a macroscopic understanding of the learning ecosystem, the latter is a microscopic understanding of the learning ecosystem. This paper then discusses the necessity of building a system that facilitates the production and authoring of content by university instructors, with a focus on the reuse of existing university courses, in order to clarify ownership of content on the web.

Internet transmission of open university courses is based on a platform. A platform generally refers to the “foundation” or “underlying environment” for running a system or service (Hayashi et al., 2022). The platform assumed in this paper is an information system that takes into account not only system construction but also rights management and business models (Kokuryo, 2006). The technical aspect of the platform from the perspective of reuse shall be a production, authoring and archiving system that can edit, process and store contents in real time. The legal aspect of the platform from the perspective of clarifying the attribution of rights is the management of the rights to the content transmitted over the web in online lectures, and the management of intellectual property rights (IPR) covering the content itself, its transmission mechanism and the names and indications (marks) assigned to the content. The business model aspect of the platform is the streamlining of content rights clearance based on content IPR management. The coordination of these three aspects will make the internet transmission of the OUJ courses, which is oriented toward the learning ecosystem, sustainable (Kodama et al., 2015).

In studies of content and systems, their legal aspects have not been considered. In this paper, considering the linkage between the technical aspects and legal aspects of the platform, we assume a process of production, authoring and archiving from the OUJ course lectures, taking into account production, authoring, addition and revision after the fact and archiving (Kodama et al., 2012). The system incorporates the management of copyrights and other IPR, based on the clearance of copyrights and other IPR, and is consistent with the technical and legal systems. This system consists of media-mix content production tools and client software. The client software will be multi-device apps for Internet transmission.

The “media-mix content production, authoring, and archiving systems” integrates audio (video) editing and text editing as contents production tools and aims to improve the efficiency of online lecture content production and authoring by media-mixing print and radio (TV) lecture materials in consideration of rights management. The “Media-mix Content Creation Tool” is a template for creating media-mix contents in a window structure (see Figure 1). It is a tool for creating contents by preparing materials (textbook text, explanatory material files, reference material files and video files) and then assigning videos, explanatory material and reference material while inputting the text body. The contents are processed and authored in real time by launching a text production tool that takes into account the overall structure of the OUJ courses and the integration of broadcasting lectures and printed materials, and these become webcasting contents for Internet transmission of the OUJ courses. The form of the online lecture with the window configuration as shown in the display in Figure 1 is viewed by the client software. In general, all online lecture content are internalized in the LMS, but in this system, the contents are externalized since they are to be existing broadcasting lectures and their media-mix contents.

Content rights management should be handled in parallel with the production and authoring of content, but generally this is done on an after-the-fact basis. Even if open content is published free of charge, rights clearance for that content is necessary. More so, when the reuse of content is taken into consideration, it is essential to deal with the rights clearance of the content. In order to clarify the rights clearance of content, rights management of content is required. From this perspective, the legal aspect of the platform will be the response to rights management from the clarification of where the rights clearance is located.

The contents of the OUJ courses are transmitted to the public under the clearance of rights (copyright and portrait rights). When the contents are transmitted via the internet via Opencourseware (OCW), rights clearance may be required at a later date. However, the content is not something that can be handled by the management of copyrights. Although this point is not often pointed out, the act of transmitting content is related to invention, and it is also related to design when displayed in a web environment. Furthermore, the name of the content is also related to a trademark. In other words, the system for distributing the OUJ courses and the mechanism for viewing them are related to patent management, the icons on the screen display for viewing online the OUJ courses are related to design management and the names of online courses and universities are related to registered trademarks and trademark management for goods and services that bear the trademark (Kodama, 2014). Here, in the internet transmission of the contents of the OUJ courses, even if the management of copyright and portrait rights is primarily also assumed, IPR management across intellectual property can be envisioned.

In order to promote Internet transmission of the OUJ courses, even if they are made public through OCW or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), they must be consistent with the legal systems of each country. To this end, IPR management that links not only economic rights but also moral rights and economic rights is required. Here, the Digital Rights Management (DRM) requires comprehensive IPR management.

Even if there are no problems with the technical aspects and legal aspects of the platform, the restrictions on the cost-effectiveness of distributing the OUJ courses over the internet will have a significant impact. Aspects of the business model for this purpose must be clarified. The concept of a platform for the internet transmission of courses of the OUJ will be a trinity of technical, legal and business model aspects. The business model aspect of the platform will be the billing system and related content rights clearance.

The subject of rights clearance in Japan is the content of the OUJ courses themselves and the rights clearance for their Internet transmission. It is necessary to consider not only the protection of the rights, but also the measures in the limitation of the rights. The rights clearance for copyrights, etc., involves the protection and restriction of economic rights such as copyrights. The use in the protection of content rights and the use in the limitation of content rights cannot be clearly divided into two, especially in the internet environment. Therefore, the use and exploitation of content in the protection of copyrights and the restriction of copyrights are legally sharply distinguished, but systematically integrated. They function in cooperation with the rights clearance through cooperation with copyright management companies, etc., and the rights clearance with related organizations with compensation, respectively. It will be a billing system that includes zero royalties for the internet transmission of the OUJ courses.

Furthermore, in relation to the technical aspects of the platform, it is necessary to take into consideration the treatment of IPR for inventions and designs. Even if the OUJ courses are transmitted free of charge over the internet in OCW, MOOC or iTunes U systems, IT services companies are involved as sponsors. This is a relationship that involves the clearance of IPR in a business model in the broad sense of the term. The response is to process rights in terms of both moral rights and economic rights, and can be expanded as the IPR clearance because it processes rights in terms of both protections of rights and limitation of rights. However, for rights clearance other than copyrights, etc., it should be mainly applied to economic rights.

The research concept for webcasting content and multi-device apps is based on information systems of the technical aspect (media-mix content creation, authoring and archiving system), the legal aspect (content rights management) and the business aspect (content rights clearance) relationships for Internet transmission platforms for open university courses. Regarding webcasting, the OECD has outlined webcasting and convergence policies (OECD, 1997) and implications, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been considering them as an international treaty for decades. This paper is a design theory to deal with them. By the way, new issues are currently being raised regarding the utilization of generative AI. These challenges include copyright and IPR infringement, invasion of privacy, plagiarism concerns, dissemination of false information and leakage of confidential information (AI Strategy Council, 2023). The ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) associated with the use of those generative AI are not independent of each other. The ethical, legal and social implications of the use of generative AI are related (Kodama, 2024). These measures are directed at content already available online. However, in order to deal with these issues in a unified manner, it is important to approach them from the content creator side. The originality of this paper is that the internet transmission of the OUJ courses is based on the reuse of existing the OUJ course contents from the perspective of technical and legal cooperation in the learning ecosystem. Furthermore, the value of this paper is that the ELSI surrounding the use of generative AI can be addressed by clarifying attribution of content rights.

This paper emphasizes the need to build a system that facilitates the production and authoring of content by university instructors, in order to clarify the attribution of content rights on the web. The technical aspect of the platform, the media-mix content production, authoring and archiving system, consists of webcasting content and multi-device apps that transmit over the internet. Content rights management, the legal aspect of the platform, is added to the webcasting content by the multi-device apps. Content rights clearance, the business model aspect of the platform, will be externalized in conjunction with content rights management.

Note that development related to contents and apps is a commercially based topic and is not necessarily the subject of the research. Research on contents either has been on the content that has been created or been integrated with its evaluation (Suzuki and Midorikawa, 2023; Yokoyama, 2002). In addition, research on apps has been specific to a particular content (Haraguchi, 2018; Nagano and Sugimori, 2023). More importantly, developments from the relationship between media-mix contents and the apps for transmission to the public, as in this paper, is not the subject of the research. This is because, at present, only the OUJ can be involved in broadcasting among transmission to the public at institutions of higher education. In addition, webcasting content can also be said from the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications (Kikuchi, 2020), which is a unique way to view open university. Therefore, this paper focuses on concepts that the authors have been studying for a decade. However, should the WIPO Treaty to Protect Broadcasting Organizations regarding webcasting be concluded, the issues discussed in this paper could spill over to institutions of higher education in general. This paper describes a prototype of webcasting content that seamlessly links the OUJ’s online lectures with TV/radio lectures, and presents a mechanism for transmitting it over the internet via a multi-device apps (supporting Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac).

The relationship with production and authoring of content is required to have a correspondence relationship with transmission to the public. In other words, content should be oriented toward webcasting content in relation to webcasting. By the way, in 2011 WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, which is responsible for the broadcasting negotiations, agreed a work plan to come up with a new draft treaty that would be acceptable to all or most WIPO members ^[2]. However, how webcasting is protected remains an outstanding issue.

There are two possible concepts for research on webcasting content composition from the learning ecosystem perspective. The first, from the perspective of a communication savings for video viewing, is the transition from a video content structure to an audio, still image and text content structure. The second, from the perspective of reusing existing content, is the utilization of TV lectures (audiovisual content) and radio lectures (auditory content)) and online lectures (audiovisual content). To do so, assuming seamless cooperation between broadcasting lectures (TV and radio) and online lectures, it is necessary to turn radio lectures into audiovisual content.

The concept of content composition with still images and text is to save communication volume for video viewing. The authors have been developing webcasting content from the viewpoint of media-mix content of broadcasting lectures (TV lectures and radio lectures) and printed teaching materials (Kodama et al., 2015). This is because courses at the OUJ are taught using content that integrates broadcasting lectures and printed teaching materials. In the process of its research on the composition of webcasting content, there is a form of integration of TV lectures and printed materials (textual information). There is also a form of visualization by adding a script of visual information (text information and pattern) etc. to the auditory information of the radio lectures. In addition, there is a form in which “documents in text form of scripts” and “PowerPoint documents” are added to online lectures. It is the simplest correspondence of media-mixed content that adds text information to online lectures for which printed materials are not available.

At present, Internet transmission of university courses is legally different from broadcasting lectures on television or radio. However, webcasting content is based on the premise that the contents of broadcasting programs are the same as the contents of Internet transmission. The OUJ considers Broadcasting Law Article 4, Paragraph 1 regarding the editing of broadcasting programs such as domestic broadcasts for broadcasting lecture content, but does not consider Broadcasting Law Article 4, Paragraph 1 for online lecture content. The Open University Foundation is a broadcaster, and when editing domestic and foreign broadcasting programs, broadcasters, “ (1) it must not negatively influence public safety or good morals, (2) it must be politically fair, (3) reporting must not distort the facts, and (4) it must clarify the points at issue from as many angles as possible where there are conflicting opinions concerning an issue” (Broadcasting Law Article 4, Paragraph 1). These provisions are regulations in Japan, and the situation differs from that in other countries. Webcasting content requires a seamless content production and authoring perspective with broadcast and online lecture content. In broadcasting and Internet transmission, the original form is to stream as much as possible what is being broadcast on terrestrial waves, but the state of audiovisual display is not the same. For example, BS Fuji “Prime News” is broadcasted and distributed simultaneously on the internet, but the webcasting content is not in exactly the same audiovisual state, and “Bloomberg Market News” is a live transmission of audio only. It is related to the rights of the performers and others when using the images of broadcasting contents on the internet. Webcasting content require real-time rights clearance.

The research concept of webcasting content composition takes the form of content placed on a web server and transmitted to the public using apps. Contents are provided in an on-demand format in a download format, and viewing is in a streaming format. Webcasting is assumed here to be in the form of streaming and on-demand.

Online lectures at the OUJ can be divided into simultaneous two-way streaming, material transmission type and video transmission type on-demand. The form, like webcasting content, has implications for copyright law, but is not researched and developed with that into consideration. That is, streaming or on-demand is relevant to the definition of webcasting. It has to do with an international treaty, which is not yet in a position to be ratified. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between copyrights, etc. for Internet transmission of webcasting content (Kodama, 2022).

Webcasting can be opened in a browser or in an app. NHK’s transmission program NHK Plus can be viewed using the web page or the dedicated app on the terminal connected to the internet such as a PC, smartphone or tablet. In this paper, webcasting content will be in the form of net transmission by an app. We have researched multi-device apps in the form of Internet transmission of webcasting content via apps (Kodama et al., 2019). In general, content development has been provided by building it into apps and URLs. The concept of this paper separates webcasting content from apps and transmits to the public of contents placed on a web server by utilizing apps. It allows the webcasting content provided by the multi-device apps to be flexible to add or revision content.

This multi-device apps (for Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac) are for webcasting the content of the OUJ courses, downloading the content and viewing it. Since the OUJ is limited to broadcasting necessary for education, Internet transmission of the OUJ courses must be from the viewpoint of fusion of broadcasting and communication, and Internet transmission must be positioned as webcasting. By the way, the apps add a function to effectively display the media-mix and a rights management function to facilitate webcasting content reuse. This streamlines the content rights process by clarifying content rights relationships, enabling webcasting content that seamlessly links archived content from broadcasting lectures and online lectures (existing and new content) to be transmitted Internet.

Webcasting content is structured in relation to copyright attributions. There are three perspectives on the composition of copyright attributions: macroscopic, microscopic and mesoscopic (Kodama, 2023). In the macroscopic perspective, the composition of copyright attributions is understood as the establishment of quasi-real rights to use a work and a trust assignment, both of which function as copyright management. And in the microscopic context, a work is structured from a combination of the attributions of the right to use a work, the establishment of quasi-real rights to use a work and the granting of claims to use a work. Also, in mesoscopic perspectives, macroscopic relations and microscopic relations are intertwined serially or in parallel. For a rational relationship of copyright attributions to be maintained, identity must be maintained when an intangible work is audiovisualized in relation to moral rights. That relationship between rights management and rights clearance in copyright law is extended to the relationship between rights management and rights clearance in intellectual property law.

Even in open content, copyright protection is an obstacle. And for contents in cyberspace, there is the issue of copyright infringement in the utilization of generated AI. In other words, a mechanism is needed to simplify rights management and rights clearance for content. In this paper, the rights management for lectures at the OUJ courses links content management and rights management for broadcasting lectures (TV lectures and radio lectures) and online lectures. In addition, the rights management of Internet transmission of the OUJ courses is effective for smooth clearance of copyrights and other matters related to webcasting content and their Internet transmission.

If the contents of the OUJ courses transmitted Internet are generated by AI or use existing contents, the evaluation of originality etc. will be exposed instantly. The form of teaching that utilizes third-party teaching materials in university education, which has been allowed until now, will have to change. In addition, the OUJ courses are produced and authored by utilizing published works of third parties. Using a third party’s copyrighted work as it is or distorting it will result in infringement not only of the copyright but also of the moral rights of the author. In this way, the clearance of rights related to the production and authoring of lecture content at the OUJ course is generally within the scope of the copyright law, but portrait rights (privacy rights and publicity rights) are also subject. This legal response is subject to examinations that are normally conducted for broadcasting programs, and must also be considered for simultaneous broadcasting and Internet transmission. They are rights processing from the perspective of rights protection, but there is also rights processing from the perspective of rights restriction. In terms of copyright restrictions, in principle, the use of published works does not require permission from the right holder and copyright fees, but there are some cases where notification to the right holder and compensation are required.

As open contents, there is the OCW in which each university participates, and there is the MOOC in that flow. They are subject to the Creative Commons license (CC license) as Creative Commons. However, this provision does not have to comply with the CC license in terms of exceptions and restrictions on rights, and privacy rights, publicity rights and moral rights are not guaranteed (CC BY 4.0 DEED Attribution 4.0 International). In other words, even if the content is open content, it can be distributed over the internet through rights clearance according to the copyright laws of each country. The content of the OUJ courses and its transmission on the internet are subject to IPR. The above rights clearances are extended to IPR clearances.

In addition, as a countermeasure against disinformation, the Originator Profile (OP), which electronically assigns originator information authenticated by a third-party organization, is attracting attention. This is intended to allow Internet users to confirm the authenticity of content. The OP that is assigned electronically will be compatible with the assignment of content rights management.

The concept of webcasting content and multi-device apps research is embodied in the webcasting content and multi-device apps research examples. In the field of education, digital teaching materials are becoming available on the internet, such as OCW, and MOOC such as Coursera, and Udacity. Effective use of educational content published on the web is expected, and OER (Open Educational Resources) recommends the “5 Rs” of Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute ^[3]. There are many possibilities for reusing online learning materials, including improving, re-editing and customizing the materials according to learners' existing knowledge, needs and abilities. However, in this case, rather than using existing teaching materials as is, it is necessary to select only the necessary parts according to the purpose of use and combine them freely. Among them, regarding the customization of teaching materials, there is one that applied fuzzy logic to determine learning materials that are suitable for students' needs based on their prior knowledge (Ulfa et al., 2021). Furthermore, personalized e-course development has been proposed, which uses genetic algorithms to find e-learning materials suitable for individual learners from a database (Chang and Ke, 2013). It is also necessary to be able to provide educational materials in a format tailored to the user, such as a web browser or a mobile app.

Much research has been conducted on the creation of micro-content, which divides educational material into reusable units, and on the multi-platform deployment of educational materials. Here, microcontent is “self-contained content that is divided into the smallest units that cannot be further divided” ^[4]. There has been the development of models to guide the production of educational microcontent for use in virtual learning environments with mobility (Souza and Amaral, 2014). Furthermore, as a development of microcontent research, a microcontent visualization method has been proposed that provides the ability to browse a large number of microcontents and select the one you need from among them (Furukawa and Yaginuma, 2021).

On the other hand, published teaching materials are not necessarily freely available, and there may be restrictions on their use. The above literatures did not consider the rights relationship of educational content. Therefore, when reusing teaching materials, rights management is also important. In addition to providing considerations for the creation of open-access works, the management of rights in such materials is important in providing considerations for the creation of open-access works, for example with respect to copyright-related issues in the context of OER. Therefore, a sharing norm has been proposed to not only provide consideration for the creation of open-access works, but also to ensure proper attribution and credit for the creators and adaptors of OER (Norris et al., 2022).

As mentioned earlier, much research has been conducted on the reuse and rights management of online educational materials. However, these did not necessarily centrally manage the reuse and rights management of online teaching materials. Furthermore, when considering reuse, it is necessary not only to manage the rights of the entire teaching material, but also to manage the rights of each of the materials that make up the teaching material. Therefore, it is necessary to develop tools that handle these in an integrated manner. This paper is to propose, from the perspective of the learning ecosystem, the development of tools for production, authoring, addition and revision webcasting content with rights management into consideration and the development of multi-device apps for its Internet transmission. In the following, this paper will present specific technical points as examples of a method that enables flexible production, authoring, adding and revising with rights management into consideration.

In this research, existing the OUJ course (online lecture “Media and Intellectual Property (メディアと知的財産)” and special radio course “Research Misconduct and Research Ethics (研究不正と研究倫理)” are standardized to be compatible with apps displays and made into webcasting content. In addition to using those contents as they are, from the viewpoint of reuse, visualization of the TV lecture for “Media and Intellectual Property” and visualization of the radio lecture for “Research Misconduct and Research Ethics” will be added. It is then transmitted to the internet through the app. The research process for Internet transmission of the OUJ courses extends from a smartphone app for Android to multi-device apps for iPhone, Windows PC and Mac. To promote content reuse, add a rights management function to the app and reflect rights management information in webcast content.

In contrast to the premise of content development, which is based on the premise of producing content in a built-in manner, this paper explains a research method for producing and authoring webcasting content, flexibly adding and revising them and transmitting them Internet using multi-device apps, taking rights management into consideration. From the point of view of media-mixed content, audiovisualization with the addition of “audio”, “scripted material of the script” and “PowerPoint material” of the radio lecture comes to mind. Aiming for a method that can be applied to cases where speech recognition or character recognition is difficult, we propose a method to synchronize the handmade PowerPoint presentation with the audio by using the similarity of spatial frequency features such as bulleted text and evenly spaced figures. This technology can be used to add metadata to lecture videos and realize partial retrieval of lecture videos (Yaginuma et al., 2010).

As an example of the content, using the related materials for one 45-min radio lecture on “Research Misconduct and Research Ethics”, the special lecture at the OUJ, the 45 min of “audio” is divided into 21 blocks, with 21 PowerPoint documents corresponding to each block, and the “audio” and “script text materials” for each block are also corresponding to each block. In addition, “audio” and “textualized materials of the script” for each block are also provided. The prototype of the webcasting content is displayed on multi-device apps as media-mix contents created by content composition by audiovisualization of radio lectures.

Webcasting content prototypes require visualization. First, the content materials (text, video, audio) are clearly divided with the PowerPoint material as one section. This makes it easier to ensure content interlocking as media-mix contents. At the same time, even as webcasting content, it is not streamed, but is downloaded to the apps as partitioned content divided into a certain unit, making it easier to control the system. If you add audio to 30 PowerPoint materials for 45 min in a TV lecture and an online lecture, you can standardize it as a lecture material of media-mix content for material transmission type, video transmission type, simultaneous interactive type online lecture.

The prototype of webcasting content is audiovisual content conversion of auditory content. By stylizing and standardizing webcasting content, it will be oriented toward automatically generating contents from “media-mix content creation/authoring/archiving systems”. Webcasting content is produced and authored for PC, but with the production and authoring of HTML5 smartphone content and the research of smartphone apps, it will be possible to watch on smartphones.

In the multi-device apps research examples, two pieces of content from the webcast content research examples have been implemented into multi-device apps (Kodama et al., 2020).

In research example 1, the content created by visualizing an online lectures (video) is displayed using multi-device apps (see Figure 2). Download the “Media and Intellectual Property” app to a smartphone or PC, and touch the screen of the app to go to the menu screen (corresponding to 15 programs of the online lecture) (see Figure 2). Touching each session (course) on the menu screen takes the user to the respective course screen. For example, touching “Part 1: Legal Structure of Intellectual Property” takes the user to the screen of the first course (see Figure 3). The structure of the course screen is a combination of slides (PowerPoint) and memos (text (script and subtitles)) (see Figure 4).

Touch ① in Figure 4 to return to the menu screen. Touch ② to close the memo screen and return to the previous slide. Touch ② to go to the first page.③ moves to the previous page, and ④ moves to the next page. If the first page is already displayed, this button is hidden. ⑤ moves to the last page. If the page is already the last page, this button is hidden. Touching ⑥ displays the memo screen of the displayed slide. ⑦ is the same as④.

The menu screen is expanded into a slide (PowerPoint display screen) and a memo screen with explanations of each course, and the memo screen is linked to each screen (see Figure 5). After moving to the menu screen, the screens are sequentially moved back and forth in three seconds by the operations ③ and ④ in Figure 4. The memo screen corresponding to each screen is instantly moved to the supplementary explanation (corresponding to the script and subtitles) by touching ⑥ in Figure 4. To return to the slide corresponding to the memo screen, touch ⑥ in Figure 4.

Research example 2 is an audiovisualized content of a radio lecture displayed by multi-device apps (see Figure 6). The screen of the “Research Misconduct and Research Ethics” app is the same as the menu screen (see Figure 7), chapter screen (see Figure 8) and text screen (see Figure 9) of the “Media and Intellectual Property” app. Note that Figure 8 shows the display of content with audio added.

By clearly dividing the content materials (text, video and audio) into sections, each section of the PowerPoint document, it is easier to ensure the interoperability of the content as media-mix contents. In addition, as webcasting content, it is not streamed, but rather downloaded to the app in the necessary amount as a sectioned content, which makes it easier to control the system. The consistency between “voice”, “materials converted into text of scripts” and “PowerPoint materials” is the simplest. There is a degree of the consistency, and the shorter the “voice” and “PowerPoint document” display is, the higher it is, and the longer it is, the lower it is. From the learner’s point of view, it is considered that finding an intermediate consistency is more satisfying than judging whether the consistency is high or low.

By the way, the iPhone app is developed in an ad hoc manner, and the UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) of the iPhone to be installed must be registered in advance at the time of build in order to install the app.

A DRM system based on a copyright ontology has been proposed, which both interoperability and automation while providing a rich framework for copyright law and custom licensing schemes (García and Gil, 2008). However, these systems are directed at existing content, which is similar to that targeted by content using generative AI. In contrast, this paper focuses on rights management during the content production and authoring stages.

The contents of broadcasting lectures and online lectures at the OUJ are in a relationship in which the faculty members give permission to use the copyrighted works to the Open University of Japan Foundation, and the faculty members grant the publishing rights to Foundation for the Promotion of the Open University of Japan. Copyrights are vested in the faculty members in their original form, and the use of the content of the Open University of Japan Foundation is permitted on claims, while the use of the content of Foundation for the Promotion of the Open University of Japan is permitted on quasi-property right. However, even if this can be said of the contents of the broadcasting and online lectures as a whole, the scene is completely different in parts. The completely different scene involves works that are used on real rights and claims relationship, works that are used under copyright and other restrictions on published works and works that are used under copyright and other protection, as well as registered inventions and registered trademarks (Kodama, 2022).

For rights management in this research, only videos are used, and one video can be assigned to each chapter. Only the portion of playback time that cannot be displayed will be masked. The rights management function will support partial rights clearance of content, but will also involve the overall rights clearance of content. As long as the content has references and citations, the rights management function is essential to the application. However, the granularity of the location of rights management to the content is not definitive. Here, even if the content is exactly the same, if there is no access relationship there, copyright infringement is not questioned. Therefore, this rights management function assumes that faculty members input the information themselves, taking into account the granularity of the rights management locations.

Regarding the research of webcasting content, we aimed to standardize audiovisual, auditory and visual contents by making a seamless content composition of media-mix contents as webcasting content. However, from the issue of cost, it is necessary to reconsider these contents from a coexistence format.

As for the research of apps, in addition to those presented in the research examples, there are others that have been combined into a single app. This will facilitate the reuse of content by the same author. In addition, a learning history function is added to the app. In online lectures, there is support for a learning history function since the system is operated by an LMS. It is in the perspective of the university, and the learning history function of the app is in the perspective of checking the progress of the learner. Regarding the rights management function of the app, it targets video, but due to the issue of rights clearance, slides and audio, etc. could also be targeted. Audio will be handled in the same way as video, and slides will be handled in the same way as charts in printed materials. Concerns about copyright infringement have been pointed out in the utilization of generated AI. The rights management function is oriented to take these situations into account.

The ultimate mesoscopic perspective of the learning ecosystem will be a communication savings for video viewing. The target of this diet is webcasting content, which, in this paper, is a communication savings for video viewing of media-mix contents. The response should be to change the content structure by reusing existing broadcasting and online lectures to a content structure with still images and text. This will minimize the occurrence of copyright fees, and reducing copyright fees will mean producing and authoring webcasting content under the restrictions of copyrights and other rights. However, this may instead increase the burden of rights clearance (Kodama, 2014). The research in this paper can influence the direction of Internet transmission of the OUJ courses from the perspective of the learning ecosystem. Therefore, copyright payments would be judged from the cost-effectiveness of the content, and from the relationship between the protection of copyright and other rights and the restriction of copyright and other rights.

By the way, the ELSI related to the use of generative AI are directed at content published on the web. However, in order to address these issues in a unified manner, it is important to take an approach from the content creator’s side. Clarifying content attribution through tools that integrate reuse and rights management of the online materials in this paper will serve to address the ELSI associated with the use of generative AI.

This paper is based on the research results of “Research on the research of multi-device apps for webcasting content” (FY2018-2020) (PI: Kodama, H., Co-PIs: Suzuki, M. T. and Yaginuma, Y.) funded by Foundation for the Promotion of the Open University of Japan.