2. Copyright and the role for Creative Commons licences

When deciding what materials to use in teaching and learning, it is essential to understand which licence applies and how you can use each resource. When a piece of creative work such as an image, video or textbook is produced, the creator of the work has certain legal rights. These are intended to protect the rights of the creator and, as a consequence, restrict the ability of others to use or reuse that material without seeking permission from the creator. This is known as copyright, and it applies automatically to all works unless the creator chooses otherwise.

The copyright notice © is a familiar symbol online. However, the presence or not of the symbol is not necessarily helpful in determining whether or not one can use a resource because sometimes copyrights expire, and in some cases it is no longer necessary to use the symbol – in the USA, for example, the symbol is no longer required for works published after March 1989. Absence of notice does not necessarily mean the work is within the public domain – on the contrary, copyright must be assumed to be in place unless stated otherwise.

Intellectual property is a broader term that incorporates copyright and other elements such as patents. This is where Creative Commons (CC) licensing has filled a potentially very confusing gap.

Activity 2 Interpreting Creative Commons licences

Timing: Allow about 20 minutes

Figure 3 Creative Commons combinations

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An image showing the six Creative Commons licences in symbol form. These are as follows:

• Top left: Attribution: A symbol of a person inside a circle and the letters ‘BY’ underneath.
• Middle left: Attribution-ShareAlike: A symbol of a person inside a circle next to a C-shaped arrow pointing counter-clockwise inside a second circle. The letters ‘BY’ and ‘SA’ are underneath the two symbols.
• Bottom left: Attribution-NonCommercial: A symbol of a person inside a circle next to a dollar sign inside a second circle with a line through it. The letters ‘BY’ and ‘NC’ are underneath the two symbols.
• Top right: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: A symbol of a person inside a circle next to a dollar sign inside a second circle with a line through it followed by a C-shaped arrow pointing counter-clockwise inside a third circle. The letters ‘BY’, ‘NC’ and ‘SA’ are underneath the three symbols.
• Middle right: Attribution-NoDerivatives: A symbol of a person inside a circle next to an equals sign inside a second circle. The letters ‘BY’ and ‘ND’ are underneath the two symbols.
• Bottom right: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives: A symbol of a person inside a circle next to a dollar sign inside a second circle with a line through it followed by an equals sign inside a third circle. The letters ‘BY’, ‘NC’ and ‘ND’ are underneath the three symbols.

Figure 3 Creative Commons combinations

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Transcript

NARRATOR:

Have you ever wondered how to download and share digital content legally? How do you let people know that you want them to reuse your own work? Creative Commons licences can help you do both. We’ll show you how.

Our world’s exploded with digital opportunities. Now we can communicate, share and work together using the exceptional distribution network that is the internet. Information and content can fly between us in exciting new ways, but it’s important to know that when something is created – say a photo, a document or a music track – it’s automatically protected by copyright.

Copyright enables people to say who can share and reuse their creations. You must always obtain someone’s permission before sharing or reusing their work, even when it’s posted online. But what if a creator wants everyone to use their work without the hassle of granting permission over and over? This is where Creative Commons can help.

Creative Commons provides licensing tools that are free to use. You can apply a licence to your work which refines your copyright and streamlines how you give permission.

Zach here downloads a photo called CC Kiwi that he wants to use in his science project. He can do this without asking Kiri the photographer first because she’s already given permission with a Creative Commons licence. Kiri’s licence is legally robust, but easy for Zach to understand. She’s told the world, including Zach, that they can use CC Kiwi as long as they acknowledge her as the original photographer.

There are more rules Kiri could have included. Creative Commons licences are made up of licence elements – you can think of them as rules – and each have their own special symbol:

[Symbol of a person in a circle; the letters BY are beneath.] This is attribution. It means that Zach must acknowledge Kiri when he publishes his science project containing her photo.

[Symbol of a dollar sign with a line through it in a circle; the letters NC are beneath.] This is non-commercial. It means no one else but Kiri is permitted to make money from CC Kiwi. Tim wants to print the photo onto T-shirts and distribute them to friends. He can do this, but he must not sell them.

[Symbol of an equals sign in a circle; the letters ND are beneath.] This is no derivatives and it means that Kiri hasn’t given permission to change her photo. Kate can use CC Kiwi on her design blog, but will need to ask Kiri before retouching or mixing up the image.

[Symbol of a circling arrow within a circle; the letters SA are beneath.] And this is share alike. It means new creations that use CC Kiwi need to carry the same licence. Jack incorporates his own remix of CC Kiwi in his video installation, but he must share the work under the same terms that Kiri has.

Each Creative Commons licence gives permission to share and includes the attribution rule. So, people who find your Creative Commons licensed work are automatically allowed to share it but are required to acknowledge you if they do.

The other three licence elements are optional and you can choose which ones to add, if any. Here are the six combinations that make up Creative Commons licences. The difference between them is how many rules apply when someone wishes to use your work.

The attribution licence [CC BY] allows reusers the most freedom and the attribution non-commercial no derivatives licence [CC BY NC ND] allows the least freedom. The attribution licence [CC BY] and the attribution share-alike licences [CC BY SA] are sometimes referred to as Free Cultural Works Approved licences. These three licences [each of these licences contains a symbol of a dollar sign with a line through it in a circle with the letters NC beneath it] restrict commercial use of a work, and these two licences [each of these licences contains a symbol of an equals sign in a circle with the letters ND beneath it] do not give permission for adapting or remixing. These two licences [each of these licences contains a symbol of a circling arrow within a circle with the letters SA beneath it] require new works to be licensed under the same terms.

To choose and apply one of these licences, and to view their terms in more detail, visit us at creativecommons.org.nz/. Or you can answer some questions to help you decide which licence best suits your needs at creativecommons.org/choose/.

There are some good ways to find other people’s Creative Commons licensed work online. You can use the search filter by going to the Creative Commons website. Why not try the Jamendo website for music; Flickr for images; or DigitalNZ for New Zealand content?

Using Creative Commons licences could help your creations reach more people. Maybe you want to connect with others across the globe and take turns at improving a report. Or maybe you just want to have fun remixing someone else’s work. Whatever reason you have to share your work, you’ll find there are scientists, educators, companies and public agencies who are using Creative Commons. By opening up permission, just imagine how much we can achieve. Collaborating on what we hold in common, being open about big decisions and finding solutions in the spaces between us.

Let’s work together confidently and legally. It’s good to share with Creative Commons.

End transcript

 

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The ‘Creative Commons Kiwi’ video explains the four different symbols you find on a Creative Commons licence, and the six possible combinations of these. This page [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] also provides explanations of each of the licences if you prefer to use a text version. Make notes on the four symbols and six combinations so that you will be able to refer to these to interpret Creative Commons licences in future. If relevant, note down the last time you saw a resource featuring these symbols.

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Comment

Creative Commons licences are an essential part of sharing or reusing teaching resources online. You need to be able to identify at a glance the reuse conditions attached to any resource you decide to use, and you should of course apply licences to any work you share more widely, too.

Creative Commons licences make it easier to identify whether an online resource can be reused, modified and used for commercial purposes (i.e. making money) or requires application of an identical licence to the resulting work.