[Open-education] [open-policy-network] Open licensing vs Exceptions/Limitations

[Stephen Downes]

Hiya all,

 

My take is this:

 

First, agree that it is better to have a wide range of exceptions and limitations to copyright enshrined in law, particularly for the non-commercial use of materials. Law that supports the default of sharing, raher than ownership, is the objective of open access advocates.

 

Second, and having said that, emphasize that a licensing system like Creative Commons is an imperfect but necessary patch for a legal system that worldwide does not support that objective, because:

 

- the exceptions and limitations in law, like fair use, are often vague and subject to challenge in the courts, which often results in institutions not asserting their rights under these laws; the licenses create certainty and reduce risk for institutions

 

- laws change, and the use of Creative Commons protects people in their use of these materials even after the laws change, and so are necessary until sharing is entrenched as a general principle under law

 

- laws are much less open internationally, and some countries (the United States springs to mind) have both regressive legislation and agreesive pursuit of legal action, so the use of Creative Commons protects the use of these materials on a global, not just local, basis.

 

-- Stephen

 

 

From: Werner Westermann
Date: Wednesday, 6 May 2015 16:48
To: "open-policy-network at googlegroups.com <mailto:open-policy-network at googlegroups.com> ", "sparc-liboer at arl.org <mailto:sparc-liboer at arl.org> ", "internationaloeradvocacy at googlegroups.com <mailto:internationaloeradvocacy at googlegroups.com> ", "open-education at lists.okfn.org <mailto:open-education at lists.okfn.org> "
Subject: [open-policy-network] Open licensing vs Exceptions/Limitations

 

Dear all, regards from Santiago.

Working around a (open) licensing policy for my institution, the Library of National Congress of Chile, I am being confronted to the following issue:  why should I have a open licensing policy of my content if we have a pool of exceptions and limitations in our IP law?  Indeed, the last reform to IP law in Chile recognized a pretty wide range of exceptions and limitations (http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=28933).

My answer has been:

*	its better to have an instrument that explicits the possible uses, instead of interpreting what can or cannot be understood as a limitations to copyright
*	the limitations is sort of a catalogue of specific situations, so they might be situations not considered in that catalogue, and specially in a future perspective, we cannot see yet unpredicted or unexpected situations that cannot apply to that catalogue

Surely you have more and better arguments to strengthen the need for a open licensing policy.  Suggestions or comments?  Thanks for your time,

Werner Westermann

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