The role of
Creative
Commons in
the OER and
Traditional
Classroom
Creative Commons
 Licenses
that work alongside copyright
and enable the user to suit copyright
terms that best fit their needs
 Help
educators retain, reuse, revise, remix
and redistribute content within their
classroom without worry of copyright
infringement
Fair Use
 Section
of Copyright law that allows for
certain uses to be exempt from
infringment under certain circumstances






Criticism
Comment
News Reporting
Teaching
Scholarship
Research
Fair Use
 Has





loop holes though
Will not protect educators that abuse the
provisions
Cannot reproduce multiple copies
Cannot reproduce for same audience
Cannot commercially reproduce except
under certain circumstances
Cannot reproduce substantial portions of
research or text…what is substantial?
Fair Use
 Has





loop holes though
Will not protect educators that abuse the
provisions
Cannot reproduce multiple copies
Cannot reproduce for same audience
Cannot commercially reproduce except
under certain circumstances
Cannot reproduce substantial portions of
research or text…what is substantial?
Why use CC?
 Clear
cut rules about the acceptable
uses of any material
 Eliminates grey areas
 Allows peace of mind for creators and
users alike
 Promotes sharing

Transparent rules means easier
understanding which means more
participation
CC in an OER Classroom
 CC

is the backbone of the OER idea
Without CC, OER would be difficult
because of the restrictions of Copyright
 Written
 CC
permission for everything
allows educators to select the
appropriate content for their courses, with
a simple understanding of how they can
use that content
CC in an OER Classroom
 Educators
can either use existing content,
or create their own and share – using the
same rules for either purpose
 Content that is CC licensed can be used
to create an entire course, as long as the
guidelines are obeyed
CC in the Traditional
Classroom
 Reluctant
to make an entire course
dependent upon OER materials?
 Use
CC content a piece at a time to build
up the course
 Over
time, CC/Open content may
replace your traditional materials
Where to find CC/OER
Materials




Axe Library Home Page: Open Educational
Resources – Page dedicated to helping PSU
educators build OER courses
Search.creativecommons.org
Flickr.com
Google – “Search Tools” – “Filter by License”
How to License CC content

Creativecommons.org
 Licenses
 Choose
 Guides
a license
you through the prompts
 Copy code for your webpage OR
 Copy and paste the icon OR
 Simply state that the content is under a
certain CC license