Copyright and IP in the Networked Age

Stanford Future Faculty Seminar

Ahrash N Bissell

Ahrash N Bissell

Copyright and IP in the Networked Age

Stanford Future Faculty Seminar

What does copyright have to do with being future faculty?

• Research.• Teaching.• Innovation.• Engagement.

I am going to argue that © has everything to do with your future as faculty.

The current intellectual property systems are so pervasive that anyone engaged in research or information must be informed...

Creative Commons•What is Creative Commons (CC)?

Attribution

Non-Commercial No Derivative Works

Share Alike

LicensingStep 1: Choose Conditions

LicensingStep 2: Receive a License

Licensing

Mark your website

http://creativecommons.org

Licensing

Mark your creative works

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking

Education is different.• • In most places, education is a public good.In most places, education is a public good.

• • But the quality of education varies.But the quality of education varies.

— — By regionBy region— — By schoolBy school— — By classBy class

• • Open Educational Resources (OER) change this, Open Educational Resources (OER) change this, by promoting (e)quality education around the world.by promoting (e)quality education around the world.

The internet is a universal medium. It can be accessed by anyone.

OER form a Network.• • Teachers like to share and adapt materials for Teachers like to share and adapt materials for the classroom.the classroom.

• • Students consume these materials, but they only Students consume these materials, but they only learnlearn by actively taking part in the process of by actively taking part in the process of creationcreation. .

• • We learn by doing what has been done before; we We learn by doing what has been done before; we create by create by rere-creating, by building off others’ work.-creating, by building off others’ work.

Learning occurs through exchange of and collaboration on the expression of ideas.

What are Open Educational Resources?

Michael Reschke cba

Digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and re-use for teaching, learning and research.*

*UNESCO. 2002. Forum on the impact of Open Courseware for higher education in developing countries. Final report. Paris: UNESCO.

What are OER made of?

• Open licenses. E.g., Creative Commons• Open and interoperable technical formats• Materials that are high-quality and meet the needs and standards of both existing educational infrastructure and the emerging open participatory learning infrastructure.

What is different about OER?

Most digital media = “stuff you can see online for free”

fair-use and educational exceptions

OER = “stuff you can adapt and then share for others to build on”

license to innovate

When IP restricts access,When IP restricts access,adaptation and sharing,adaptation and sharing,

TebaxtTebaxtSimon musicSimon musichttp://flickr.com/photos/fruey/1368008974/

protecting the protecting the rightright to education. to education.

OER helps OER helps openopen doors doors

Mutual LearningMutual Learning

SharingSharing&&

Most students begin their education highly motivated to learn;

Most students begin their education highly motivated to learn;

Most teachers are highly motivated to share knowledge, not only with their students but with anyone who can benefit.

Most teachers are highly motivated to share knowledge, not only with their students but with anyone who can benefit.CC BY-NC-ND by Lara

EllerCC BY-NC-ND by Lara Eller

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99079793@N00/24786113/http://www.flickr.com/photos/99079793@N00/24786113/

“Adopt programs and policies to promote open educational resources. Materials funded by NSF should be made readily available on the web with permission for unrestricted reuse and recombination.”

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08204/nsf08204.pdf

Text

But there are Legal Barriers.

Nancy cbnhttp://flickr.com/photos/pugno_muliebriter/1384247192/

Expression is often restricted.• • Expression can be, and often is, fully Expression can be, and often is, fully copyrighted.copyrighted.

• • Copyrighted material cannot be shared, adapted, Copyrighted material cannot be shared, adapted, or derived... without express permission by theor derived... without express permission by the owner of the copyright. owner of the copyright.

• • But when people, especially educators, put things But when people, especially educators, put things on the web, it is usually for the express purpose of on the web, it is usually for the express purpose of making it freely available.making it freely available.

• • Unfortunately, copyright overrules this intent. Unfortunately, copyright overrules this intent.

And if you don’t license your work to be open, it automatically defaults to all-rights-reserved copyright.

ccLearn promotes CC Licenses.• • CC Licenses CC Licenses areare copyright. They do not replace copyright. They do not replace copyright, but instead grant copyright, but instead grant a prioria priori permissions permissions for certain uses that would otherwise be for certain uses that would otherwise be disallowed.disallowed.

• • So the author still retains her rights to a work; she So the author still retains her rights to a work; she simply chooses to give away those rights she does simply chooses to give away those rights she does not need or want.not need or want.

• • This makes perfect sense in education especially, This makes perfect sense in education especially, since most people want to share and build off of since most people want to share and build off of each other’s work. each other’s work.

b n d a

CC offers an easy way to share materials, versus the murky interpretations of fair use in copyright law.

openDemocracy cbahttp://flickr.com/photos/opendemocracy/542303769/

CC BY ...

• Allows the most freedoms without giving up attribution, which is important for credibility in education

• Is compatible with every other CC license, allowing the most room for innovation via collaboration

b

• Does not encroach on the freedom of potential users by enforcing a specified use:

i.e. CC BY-SA requires you to share alike, even if the new work is best suited for another licenseba

What does copyright have to do with being future faculty?

• Research.• Teaching.• Innovation.• Engagement.

I am going to argue that © has everything to do with your future as faculty.

The current intellectual property systems are so pervasive that anyone engaged in research or information must be informed...

SocialBarriers

Technical Unfamiliarity

Workload

Organizational Pressures

Agency

Cultural

Awareness, Misconceptions

Standardized Curricula

Tenure Standards

n

Developed World

Developing World

Mine

vs

Commons

vs

Noncommercial Term

Resources

Teacher Education

Socioeconomic Factors

Time Management

Teacher Salary

CC License Case Studies

Which License should I use when?

The best licenses for education enable

• Learner engagement• Innovation

• Adaption to fit local needs

CC BY-ND

Attribution No Derivatives

Allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.

b d

Consider

• You are part of a group of experts that has finally finished a protocol for data curation.

• Every word was carefully considered, and it took months of meetings to complete.

• You and the group want to share it, and you don’t particularly care how it is used...

... AS LONG AS it does not get altered in any way.

For this purpose, CC BY-ND is appropriate.

CC BY-ND

Attribution No Derivatives

Allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.

b d

But consider too

• Foreign colleagues want to translate the protocol. They must seek permission before they can do so.

?

• Any time someone would like to adapt your work, the group’s permission is required—

Even for the simple purposes of technical and social interoperability.

• A fellow expert wants to adapt the work for display on PDAs. He must also seek permission.

?

Licenses that don’t permit derivative works limit the flexibility to translate or modify the work for an educational context, or to distribute it in alternate formats.

dhttp://flickr.com/photos/aldhil/1933995970/ Melilotus bn=de

CC BY-NC-SA

Attribution Non-commercialShare Alike

Lets others:• remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially. • download and redistribute your work.• translate, remix, and produce new stories based on your work.

All new work based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.

b n a

Consider

• A university decides to release course content openly.

Hurray!

• However, much of the content is third-party material.

• It is difficult to get rights-holders to give them content without the NC term.

This is a case where the university would want to adopt CC BY-NC-SA,

since it is necessary to achieve an agreement with all their rights-holders.

But what if

• A university does not have difficulty with its right holders.

Hurray!

• So they license it under the NC term.

This is a bad reason to use NC because:

• They just don’t want anyone selling their “valuable” content without permission.

Boo!n

• People only buy content if they can’t access the free version, or if they want to access it differently.

i.e. A publishing co. decides to make hardcopies available at minimal prices (to recover printing costs) to students in Ghana!

CC BY-NC-SA

b n a

But they can’t, because it is NC licensed.

And they don’t want to go through the red tape of negotiations.

CC BY

Attribution Only

Lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.

b

Consider

• You are a creator of a work, be it a

• But as a professional in your field, you want to be recognized for your work.

• Basically, you want your stuff to be used widely—by the most people possible.

This is a great case for CC BY.

play,a love song, a cookbook

or an educational video game.

CC BY

Attribution Only

Lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.

b

But what if

• Someone takes my stuff and locks it away, defeating the purpose of making it open?

• Someone uses my stuff inappropriately, while my name is attached to it?

That’s impossible with digital content. Even if someone remixed the work and re-licensed it under full copyright, your original work is still available, free for anybody to use.

• CC BY specifically states that you do not endorse any works derived from yours.

• So it doesn’t matter; non-endorsement clause and moral rights allow you to request a take-down and seek damages anyway.

Boo!

Hurray!

Truly open licensing is essential

• Maximizes the potential of educational materials

• The ways in which materials are used determines their true impact

By designating a resource as “open”, creators of OER appear to be inviting others to share and adapt such resources.

But calling an educational resource “open” does not suffice under copyright law to specify which uses of the resource are legal.

What is the issue?

What makes resources OPEN?

The ability to:The ability to:

• • AccessAccess • • ShareShare — Copy, Distribute, Display — Copy, Distribute, Display • • AdaptAdapt — Perform, Translate — Perform, Translate • • DeriveDerive — — RemixRemix

The openness of a resource increases with the permissions given. More permissions = More open.

But there is substantial variation in site policies….

Does this patchwork approach to copyright undermine the effectiveness of OER to be shared and adapted by educators and students?

b n d a ©We decided to analyze the current state of affairs for OER sites and consider the implications for the global education commons.

©

One scheme for envisioning the “licensing hierarchy”

OER