An introduction to Creative Commons: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:39, 23 April 2010

The key thing that will enable or prevent knowledge sharing is compatible content licensing. E.g. if you and another project are both on a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike [1] license, (the license used by Appropedia), you can share content in both directions, which is perfect. This license allows for commercial use, avoiding any uncertainty over use with advertisements, and is compatible with various other sites & /projects as well. Someone could adapt an Appropedia page, adding their own ideas, and then those additions could be used on Appropedia or elsewhere - with attribution back to the party that made the additions.

For complete beginners

For someone completely new to Creative Commons, a great place to start is the Get Creative video. There are more videos here.

Then you can Meet the Licenses, or read An Introduction To Creative Commons.

Which license?

Those links don't try tell help you decide which content license is right for you.

Part of the reason we use CC-BY-SA rather than using the NC (NonCommercial) clause is found at Non-commercial licenses vs open licenses. The key points are that if you use a NonCommercial license, we are restricted from using your work in Appropedia, and that the risks of commercial exploitation are probably much less serious than you imagined, especially if you use the ShareAlike clause.

A much more extended argument is found at The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC License.

If you and the people you want to collaborate with are happy with the same license, then you can talk with your potential partners about details, and technical issues, such as how to ease the process of sharing between the sites.

Public domain vs Creative Commons

The most open form of "open license" is to use no license at all - i.e. public domain. See the Public domain page for arguments against Creative Commons from a pro public domain perspective.

If you do choose public domain, you can use a "public domain mark" from Creative Commons, through their normal license mark system (see below) (or elsewhere?^{[verification needed]}) to let search engines find and index it.

How to add a Creative Commons mark

If you have decided on a Creative Commons license and are ready to add it to your site, see Marking your work as Creative Commons.

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-The key thing that will enable or prevent [[knowledge sharing]] is compatible [[content licensing]]. E.g. if you and another project are both on a [[CC-BY-SA]][http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] license (the [[Appropedia:Copyrights|license used by Appropedia]]), you can share content in both directions, which is perfect. This license allows for commercial use, avoiding any uncertainty over use with advertisements, and is compatible with various other sites & /projects as well. Someone could adapt an Appropedia page, adding their own ideas, and then those additions could be used on Appropedia or elsewhere - with attribution back to Creative Citizen.
+The key thing that will enable or prevent '''[[knowledge sharing]]''' is compatible [[content licensing]]. E.g. if you and another project are both on a [[Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike]][http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] license, (the [[Appropedia:Copyrights|license used by Appropedia]]), you can share content in both directions, which is perfect. This license allows for commercial use, avoiding any uncertainty over use with advertisements, and is compatible with various other sites & /projects as well. Someone could adapt an Appropedia page, adding their own ideas, and then those additions could be used on Appropedia or elsewhere - with attribution back to the party that made the additions.
 == For complete beginners ==
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 Then you can '''[http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/meet-the-licenses/ Meet the Licenses]''', or read [http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-82/html/ An Introduction To Creative Commons].
-Those links don't try tell help you decide [[which content license is right for you]]. Part of the reason we use CC-BY-SA rather than using the NC (NonCommercial) clause is found at '''[http://www.appropedia.org/Non-commercial_licenses_vs_open_licenses Non-commercial licenses vs open licenses]'''. A much more extended argument is found at [http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses/NC The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC License].
+=== Which license? ===
-If you're happy with the same license, then you can talk with your potential partners about details, and technical issues, such as how to ease the process of sharing between the sites.
+Those links don't try tell help you decide [[which content license is right for you]].
-===Critique of the CC licenses from the Public Domain standpoint:===
+Part of the reason we use CC-BY-SA rather than using the NC (NonCommercial) clause is found at '''[[Non-commercial licenses vs open licenses]]'''. The key points are that '''if you use a NonCommercial license, we are restricted from using your work in Appropedia,''' and that the risks of commercial exploitation are probably much less serious than you imagined, especially if you use the [[ShareAlike]] clause.
-Ultimately, Creative Commons is another form of Copyright.
+A much more extended argument is found at [http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses/NC The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC License].
-The Public Domain represents a completely different perspective:
+If you and the people you want to collaborate with are happy with the same license, then you can talk with your potential partners about details, and technical issues, such as how to ease the process of sharing between the sites.
-* It emphasizes culture solutions based on ethics rather than law.
-* It allows and encourages people to use their own best judgment, rather than negotiate permissions.
+== Public domain vs Creative Commons ==
-* It avoids chains of licenses and the questions of what are the boundaries of a work?
-* It filters in people who truly want to share, and filters out those who want control.
+The most open form of "open license" is to use no license at all - i.e. [[public domain]]. See the [[Public domain]] page for arguments against Creative Commons from a pro public domain perspective.
-* It recognizes that knowledge is worthless outside of context, but wealth is human relationships that are the context, thus orients us around people rather than content.
-* It is a genuine solution that encourages genuine respect for licenses and the law.
+If you do choose public domain, you can use a "public domain mark" from Creative Commons, through their normal license mark system (see below) (or elsewhere?{{fact}}) to let search engines find and index it.{{expand}}
-* In the form of "Public Domain except as noted", it is compatible with all licenses except for "share alike" licenses, and it makes it possible to gradually migrate to the Public Domain.
+== How to add a Creative Commons mark ==
+If you have decided on a Creative Commons license and are ready to add it to your site, see '''[[Marking your work as Creative Commons]]'''.
+== See also ==
+* [[Open licenses]]
+* [[Knowledge sharing in practice]]
-See Andrius Kulikauskas (ms@ms.lt), Minciu Sodas and Worknets for more information about the Public Domain.
 [[Category:Free licenses]]
+[[Category:Creative Commons]]