Comments on: Utah and Creative Commons

By: Tarmo Toikkanen

Tarmo Toikkanen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:17:48 +0000

I’d assume that if no contract or law or statute existed that said anything about the copyrights being transferred from teachers to their employers, then the rights would not move. And teachers could do with their works as they wished. At least that’s the state of affairs in most of Europe: unless your job contract specifies that rights belong to your employer, you own them.

By: David Kernohan

David Kernohan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:27:32 +0000

Well done David!

UKOER projects are finding (and resolving) similar issues.

By: LC

LC — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:42:48 +0000

So have you re-approached the Utah teacher and told her about this? If so, what action has she taken on sharing her materials?

By: Brad Felix

Brad Felix — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:25:08 +0000

Fantastic David. Also glad to see that it does not specify which CC license to use. Keep iterating.

By: Peter Rawsthorne

Peter Rawsthorne — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:56:10 +0000

Congratulations David! Good to see successful small iterations toward changing the whole. Amazing how a simple rule change removes a big barrier.

By: CR Geissler

CR Geissler — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:47:45 +0000

I agree, way to go Utah!

However, there are some concerns that may or may not be addressed.
- If a teacher needs the permission of the state to apply a CC license to lessons plans created by the teacher, then is it settled that the intellectual property is owned by the state? How does this affect sites like http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ where teachers are posting and selling their lesson materials?
- If this rule means that the intellectual property is owned by the State yet shareable under creative commons — does it also mean that a teacher in the state who chooses to sell a lesson plan on a site like teacherspayteachers should be prohibited from doing so?
- What happens if an individual from outside the state starts posting CC licensed lesson materials on sites like teacherspayteachers — which party is injured: the state, the teacher, the school board, all? Who’s responsibility is it to enforce the CC license?

I agree that lesson plans created with public money as the result of employment should be freely licensed — but unlike the assertion in the proposed rule by Mr. Shumway “I have reviewed this rule and I see no fiscal impact on businesses” — there are very likely impacts due to competition with private businesses like teacherspayteachers or licensing enforcement costs until more jurisdictions get involved (essentially flooding the marketplace with free high quality content making ‘theft’ unprofitable.)

By: John Hilton III

John Hilton III — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:03:37 +0000

Awesome! Way to go with this new rule.

By: Paul West

Paul West — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:38:34 +0000

Well done David. This is major progress and a great example.

Paul

By: Seth

Seth — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:13:42 +0000

Outstanding, David. This is good news for teachers and the Open movement generally. Teachers deal with enough in the way of ambiguity that it’s got to be great for those that are interested in sharing lesson plans to have one less worry on their plates.