PCF5:Understanding open copyright licences

Title of session
Panel of Specialists on Copyright in Open Educational Resources

Session details
DATE:14 July TIME:14:00-15:30 ROOM:541

Session papers
Clarification Document on Creative Commons "NC" and "ND" Restrictions http://www.colfinder.org/pcf5/NC-ND_Information_Sheet_20080713.doc Julien Hofman: Presenting a book to be published by COL Introducing Copyright [http://www.colfinder.org/pcf5/Introductonary_note_by_Prof_Hoffman.doc Introductory Note Lucinda Longcroft: WIPO’s role in copyright reform Tobias Shcoenwetter: Exceptions and limitations for educational use in copyright law Prodromos Tsiavos:: The meaning of NC and ND Creative Commons licences Presentation Denis Nicholason & Jeremy de Beer: The work of the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge Project Richard McCracken: Copyright licensing in education and journalism – the need for a more flexible view of licensing

Key Issues that arose in the session
1.There is no clarity about some of the details of the Creative Commons ND and NC licences that many institutions are being encouraged to use for Open Education Resources.

2.Questions from the floor concerned:

Whether a contract could “trump” the exceptions and limitations in copyright law? The panel agreed that this would depend on domestic copyright legislation. But as a general principle it would seem that if the legislation expressed the limitations in clear and prescriptive terms the legislation should take priority over a contract. It might be very difficult to allow this in practice when the copyright material was protected by DRM.

Whether copyright was an absolute right? The answer was that copyright was not an absolute right but had to be understood subject to the limitations contained in the domestic legislation that established copyright.

What was the exact meaning of non-commercial in the CC NC clause: This question referred back to the slide presentation by Prodromos and comments from other panellists.

Points for future action (Policy, recommendations, commitments etc.)
The possibility that COL would develop a licence or set of licences that would be appropriate to the needs of individuals and institutions who want to distribute Open Education Resources.