The internet is full of Open Resources that are available for anyone to use in a number of different ways. From Public Domain to Creative Commons licensed work, Open Access to Open Source, each type and distinction of Open holds a specific purpose in defining the types of open content that are available and how they all can be used.

If you imagine content as a spectrum, you would have copyright without any licensing on one end and open attribution Creative Commons licensed work on the other. In between these two ends is a middle ground that is full of terms and licenses like fair use, non-commercial licensing, share-alike licensing, Public Domain, and more. It can be difficult to outline a specific place on the spectrum where each concept would fit since they can change depending on use in some situations. To get a better sense of what the spectrum of open versus non-open content on the web may include, watch the video and explore the links below.

Watch this video to get a sense of what roles Copyright and Creative Commons play in defining open vs. non open web content.

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Read this Spectrum of Rights Comic.

The Sharing Creative Works presentation and the Spectrum of Rights comic are a great introduction to of the variety of resources available on the open web and the spectrum of rights we need to consider when using them. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of Copyright Terms, Creative Commons, and Public Domain, read some of the content available in these links below.

Public Domain

Creative Commons

U.S. Copyright Office’s Copyright Basics

Library of Congress Guide to Copyright and Fair Use with Primary Materials

Discuss!

After you watching the video and reading the links, what questions do you still have left? Are there any concepts that were unclear and you would like clarified? Is there any topic that you thought you would learn about that was not discussed? Post these questions in the discussion section. Also share any research you have done on your own on CC licenses or copyright. Did it match with the information in the video?