This has been the primary question asked by people providing feedback on the OEL draft. Below I provide a four point response.
opencontent
Open Education Conference Registration Now Available
From the Open Education 2007 Conference Committee: We’re pleased to announce that the conference registration for Open Education 2007 is now open. The early registration deadline is Friday, September 7 — after that date all of the rates will go up. So please register early! To register online, please visit http://cosl.usu.edu/conferences/opened2007/registration. To view the preliminary … Read more
Assymetry, Hypocrisy, and Public Domain
Thousands of people complain that the term of copyright is too long. They point out that documents like the US Constitution make it plain that the term of copyright should be finite, and that it is absolutely critical that copyrighted educational content and other cultural artifacts eventually enter the public domain. This was recently demonstrated by the way people rallied around Lessig’s challenge of the Sony Bono Copyright Extension Act in the US.
However, it seems that – deep down – some people don’t really value the public domain. When given the option of placing works in the public domain early (ahead of when their copyright would expire), they will instead say: