Implications of the NonCommercial (NC) restriction for educational content licensed under a Creative Commons (cc) licence

Files

129827.pdf (108.74 KB)

Date

2006

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, ZA

Abstract

Individuals and institutions are increasingly making content available under Creative Commons (cc) licences. Creative Commons licences are heterogeneous, even though common discourse often assumes homogeneity. A cc licence that is analogous to the free software licence of the GNU General Public Licence is the cc Attribution-ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. An informal survey of content on the Internet indicates that less than 24% of educational content uses this licence. Seventy-three per cent of content surveyed uses a cc NonCommercial (NC) restriction on use. Casual conversations with authors who use cc licences indicate that most do not understand the implications of choosing a particular licence. A set of principle-based guidelines for choosing cc licences for educational content is suggested.

Description

Keywords

ACCESS TO INFORMATION, EDUCATIONAL NEEDS, RESEARCH NEEDS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, COPYRIGHT, AFRICA

Citation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10625/42423

DOI

Collections

IDRC Research Results / Résultats de recherches du CRDI
2000-2009 / Années 2000-2009
Research Results (ACACIA) / Résultats de recherches (ACACIA)