Please help me choose…
…which Creative Commons license should I put on my sites.
There are only five choices but they are proving difficult. They are as follows:
COMMERCIAL USES
http://creativecommons.org/choose/
Yes means:
“Commercial Use – The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, including for commercial purposes.”
Does this mean others can sell my lessons? (which I do not want as I provide them for free.)
No means:
“Non-Commercial – The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work for non-commercial purposes only.”
Does this mean language schools cannot print them and use them in class (provided my URL is on each page). Naturally, I want schools to use them.
Neither choice seems ideal.
MODIFICATIONS
http://creativecommons.org/choose/
Yes means:
“Allow Derivative Works – The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display and perform the work, as well as make derivative works based on it.”
The middle choice means:
“Share Alike – The licensor permits others to distribute derivative works only under the same license or one compatible with the one that governs the licensor’s work.”
No means:
“No Derivative Works – The licensor permits others to copy, distribute and transmit only unaltered copies of the work — not derivative works based on it.”
Do I want others to make derivative (altered) copies of my materials?
All help / suggestions appreciated regarding the pros and cons of the above five choices.
Thank you
Sean
Tags: copyright, Creative Commons
Dear Sean
I love your work and use it alot.
Commercial: No
Modifications: Share Alike
When I use your work, the only thing I usually alter (IF I alter) is the order of the exercises, or leave some exercises out. I always leave your name on there crediting your content.
Hope this helps you.
Your effort is absolutely helpful to me. I hope that many people who want to improve their English skills can reach your lessons more easily.
“Does commercial use mean others can sell my lessons?”
Yes, it does. Commercial use means that people can do whatever they like with them. Offline or online.
“Does non-commerical use mean language schools cannot print them and use them in class?”
My view (for what it’s worth) is that it doesn’t, although that is just my interpretation of it. Creative Commons is just as complex as copyright in some respects, and possibly even more so – even the people who created it have yet to make up their minds about what *exactly* consititutes commercial use!
For instance, if you place advertisements around a lesson, then does that constitute commercial use, or does the commercial use aspect only kick in when someone specifically sells your lessons for profit and charges people to buy them? Opinion on this one seems to be pretty much divided.
“Do I want others to make derivative (altered) copies of my materials?”
The problem with this one as I see it, is that if you allow this, you have no control with what other people do with your materials. They may transform them into something interesting and useful and add value and/or a new angle to your original content, or you could end up having your name attached to something you really wouldn’t want to be associated with.
A couple more points you might want to consider:
Will people actually read the Creative Commons licence I choose and pay any attention to the conditions attached to it, before using my materials? (in my experience, a lot of people don’t – most people seem to assume that Creative Commons means that you can use something for any purpose)
How do I want to be credited when people use my materials? (i.e. “do follow” link back to my website, name check, etc)
In theory, I think that Creative Commons is a great idea, but as a concept it’s still lin the teething stage and I’m not convinced it works very well in practice; which is why I tend not to use it very often unless I’m building on Creative Commons works that someone else has written.
Be aware that if you decide to opt for Creative Commons there is no going back, i.e. once you have licenced a specific work, you can make the licence less restrictive later but you can’t tighten up the conditions of use.
Thank you Chem – I can’t help thinking the “No” to commercial is problematic. I want language schools to use my materials (providing they leave my URL intact) but saying no on the CC license effectively means language schools cannot use them. But if I say “Yes” then I open it up for anyone to make money from my lessons. Best amend / make clearer my own copyright conditions.
Thank you Jangshik – I really appreciate your kind words.
Hi Sue – Thanks again and as always for your insightful advice. It seems there’s a can of worms behind each of the five radio buttons. There are just too few choices for me to feel comfortable with CC. I think you’re right that most people assume CC is a license to do anything. It also seems that if I went with CC, I’d lose traffic and therefore income from my own sites?? By adding the Commercial Use condition, I’d also lose the option of licensing my materials to companies. Your points to consider have helped me make up my mind to make my own copyright conditions clearer.
I always thought that “non-commercial” meant simply that others will not copy your materials and try to sell or present them as their own creations.
We teachers can use them as long as your name and URL appear on them. Correct?
I hope so!
I think so.
It also means people cannot put my lessons on their site/blog without my permission (although links to my lessons are most welcome).
There are so many aspects of copyright I don’t understand. My name or site name and URL should be on every page (as in the PDF / Word docs).
Best wishes,
Sean
Hello Sean,
first of all I am not a lawyer and I have never been at court. However, from many talks with lawyers I understand, that you can write your own Licence agreement where you specify what you allow and disallow and that is binding. By using any of the CC licences you do not have to deal with all the details, but as you can see they do not suit you perfectly.
Otherwise, thank you for the wonderful sites.
Zdenek
Thanks Zdenek,
I think I have the copyright I want, until the next time someone sees a fault in it
Best wishes,
Sean
Hi, Can we have permission touse your BreakNews English in our reading – wriitng lab to help ESL and low level readers? Thanks.
Hello Erika,
You have permission to print the materials and give to your students.
Best wishes,
Sean