Open Licenses - Creative Commons

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A good working definition of "open," as we intend it in this course, includes materials that are "free from copyright restrictions or are publicly licensed for anyone to use, adapt, and redistribute." (Ahrash Bissell, ccLearn)

Here is another definition and discussion of OER from Stephen Downes (CC BY NC SA).

So then, would a license that prohibits any changes to the work (such as CC BY ND) be "open"? How about one that forces that any derivative works also be open licensed (such as CC BY SA)? These are the subtle debates that open aficionados love to have!

Here are just a few of the heated debates on this topic:

• NC Isn’t the Problem, SA Is… Part Deux - from David Wiley; CC BY
• The OER Debate: Should OER Favour Commercial Use? - from Stephen Downes with others; CC BY NC SA
• Online and free ≠ open , Four letters: CC BY , and What is open (redux)? from Karen Fasimpaur; CC BY

Frankly, this debate can get old fast, but what license you decide to use for your own work is an important decision.

Look at the main Creative Commons (CC) open licenses and think about them. Which license would you prefer to use for your own work, and why? Post a comment about this, or if you'd rather blog about it on your own blog, just post a link.

Other Open Licenses

In addition to the licenses published by Creative Commons, which are the most common and straightforward licenses, some publishers opt to write their own open licenses.

Review some of these custom licenses and post an opinion about whether or not you think they are truly open. What might be the advantages or disadvantages to using a custom license like this instead of a Creative Commons license?

• Teachers' Domain - download & share, download, share, & remix (Note only applies to content marked as such)
• NROC terms of use - Hippocampus terms of use
• Stock.XCHNG license
   

Citing Sources

So after you find something open-licensed that you want to use, what do you do?

You don't need to contact the creator or ask permission, but you do need to credit the creator of the work. This is a requirement of all CC licenses. (It is not required for public domain works.)

There are a few ways to do credits. One is to put the credit right with the work, as a caption.

Note that if all you can find is a screen name for the creator, that's fine to use.

For school work, many teachers like to have students include a link to where they got the work as well as a credit.

You can also include all the credits at the end of the work in a final slide or rolling credits. This is especially convenient for movies.

OK, let's start remixing!

Choose one of these collaborative "Go Remix" projects (or make up one of your own):

• Places of the World A-B-C book (early elem.)
• Geographic Features of the World (upper elem./middle)
• Math in the Everyday World (middle and high school)
   

Find one or more open-licensed image(s) or other content that fit the template (or again, create a new section). Add the image and write an appropriate credit.

When we're all done, we'll have not only found open-licensed content and written credits but also remixed content. If it's good, maybe we can make it into an ebook or movie and post it online.