Authors: A.A.Fuente, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain; A.Texeira, L.Morgado, Universidade Aberta, Portugal.
The general goal of this training material is to help teachers create academic materials while complying with the Intellectual Property (IP) laws, with licenses as the main point of interest. The focus is on Creative Commons (CC) licenses, as this licenses are probably the licenses of choice in the academic field.
Unit 1 introduces the main concepts needed to understand IP, including licenses. In Unit 2 we will learn about CC licenses and how to use them.
Unit 3 introduces additional IP concepts, as differences between countries in IP laws reside in these areas and they must be taken into account by the author of academic materials. These regional particularities are treated in Unit 4.
Creators of materials can use resources from others. In Unit 5 we will learn about the different types of resources that can be used, and a specific process to assure compliance with IP law when using these resources by checking the licenses. Unit 6 shows how to search for these resources considering the resource license.
The last unit is devoted to registration, which is usually the last thing done regarding IP when developing academic materials
Unit 1. Main concepts about Intellectual Property (IP) and licenses
1.4. IP usage: licenses
The rules for the use of IP works from others are presented in this section. Licenses are the way the author expresses permission to use his or her work upon certain conditions.
1.4.1. IP: Can’t use by default
The author has a monopoly on his or her work. This means you can not use work from otherfor an specific purpose (for example, put a photograph in a magazine to be sold in newsstands) without the author’s permission to do so. This is what IP laws protect.
A work can not be used if you do not have the rights (permission). IP can not be used by default (all rights reserved).
1.4.2. Licenses
A license is the expression of the permissions an author gives to use his or her work.
The license is subject to the author’s wishes, or more properly, to the owner of the rightswishes. It can state specific conditions, such as type of use, duration, geographical coverage, etc. For example, an author can give permission to use a short novel to print just 1000 copies in Spain and distribute them free of charge among students of the different universities.
The license grants the user a set of rights to use the work, provided that the user complies with the terms stated in the license (it is a contract).
Of course, the owner of the rights can grant a license in exchange for a monetary compensation.
1.4.3. Types of licenses
We can divide licenses in two general groups: discretionary and general.
Discretionary licenses are given for individual cases, on a one to one basis. Usually, it is a direct negotiation between the owner of the work and the user.
General licenses, on the other hand, are static. The conditions of the license are the same for all the users accepting the license. Some examples of general licenses are EULA agreements for software (End User License Agreements), the GPL license for software (General Public License), and the Creative Commons Licenses (which will be our focus).