Activity 1: Understanding Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons License Descriptions: http://creativecommons.org/about/license/

  • QUESTION: If you find a movie clip licensed with a by-nd Creative Commons License, can you edit it and include it in your own project?
  • ANSWER: No – nd means "no derivatives"
  • QUESTION: Can you use the above mentioned work on a CD that will be sold to other students on campus?
  • ANSWER: Yes - there are no restrictions on commercial works in this license
  • QUESTION: What condition should you add to your license to make sure that derivations of your work will be released under the same license as your work?
  • ANSWER: sa – Share Alike
  • QUESTION: Can a Creative Commons license be used to allow people to use your work for non-commercial means but restrict commercial uses (ie reselling it)?
  • ANSWER: Yes – the nc, or non-commerical, condition covers this

Activity 2: Is It In The Public Domain?

Wikipedia – Public Domain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

True or False:

  • QUESTION: A work that is currently in the public domain in the US can be sold without restriction in Europe
  • ANSWER: False – you must first verify that it is also in the public domain in Europe
  • QUESTION: A work published on February 3, 1993 without a copyright notice would be automatically placed in the public domain
  • ANSWER: False – after 1989 copyright notice was no longer required for a work to be protected
  • QUESTION: A lapsed trademark can leave the public domain and become proprietary again
  • ANSWER: True – trademarks can be renewed even after entering the public domain
  • QUESTION: Movies can never be released into the public domain because they are owned by the studios that released them
  • ANSWER: False – many movies are currently in the public domain

Activity 3: Using Open Source Software

Wikipedia – Open Source Software: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software

  • QUESTION: Is it OK to distribute an open source program for free and charge people to access the source code?
  • ANSWER: No – if the source isn’t distributed with the compiled program you must provide a well-publicized method to obtain the code
  • QUESTION: If you release software that you’ve developed as open source, you can still charge for installing or maintaining that software for clients?
  • ANSWER: Yes – you are then being reimbursed for your time working for that particular client, not for the actual software
  • QUESTION: How many versions, as a minimum, should an open source project release at a time?
  • ANSWER: Two – a development version that has more features but also more bugs, and a release version that is more stable but has fewer features
  • QUESTION: What is the main difference between freeware such as the Opera web browser and free or open source software such as the Firefox Browser?
  • ANSWER: Freeware simply means you don’t have to pay for it. Free or open means you can modify the software itself

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