General information

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

◄ Previous: Unit 5. Using third party resources Next: 5.2. Process ►

Unit 5. Using third party resources

5.1. Types of resources

We will classify the resources (materials) into broad general types for the purposes of licensing: full open educational resources, text, images, sound, and video.

5.1.1. Full Open Educational Resources (OERs)

The first type of resource that can be used is full Open Educational Resources (OERs). That is, whole courses or autonomous units that can be used independently, or included in another work.

As OERs include a combination of the other types of resources, it is also possible to use partsof the OER (for example images). Of course, whenever the license allows for it.

Anyway, the usage requirements are the same as for other types: comply with the license.

5.1.2. Text

Text resources to use include:

  • Text books
  • Books
  • Newspapers
  • Academic papers
  • Web pages
  • …
5.1.3. Images

Some of the different types of images to use are:

  • Photographs
  • Illustrative graphics (clipart)
  • Graphs
  • Graphic icons
5.1.4. Sound

Sources of sound resources can be:

  • Speeches, talks, etc.
  • Music
  • Sound effects
  • Interface sounds
5.1.5. Video

Video can be taken from:

  • Movies, video clips
  • News stories
  • Animated clipart
◄ Previous: Unit 5. Using third party resources Next: 5.2. Process ►