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Notre Dame University – Adopts OER under CC Licenses
by Naeema Zarif Open Education, UncategorizedCurrently, NDU students across three campuses are taking part in the University’s first pilot English course fully based on open educational resources (OER). Following the University’s strategic decision to integrate OER in teaching and learning, students enrolled in Sophomore Rhetoric, the University’s core English requirement, are the first cohort to pilot the use of…
Jonathan Barnbrook on his CC-licensed art for David Bowie’s Blackstar
by Eric Steuer Open CultureJonathan Barnbrook is a world-renowned artist who has worked extensively in a variety of media including film, typography, and graphic design. He was also a close collaborator of David Bowie, and created the cover artwork for the musician’s last four albums. Sadly, Bowie died in January, just two days after the release of his final…
The flip side of copyright
by Timothy Vollmer Licenses & ToolsFair Use Week 2016 is here, and we’re happy to celebrate it alongside many other organizations and individuals who believe in the importance of flexible exceptions to copyright law. There are now over 1 billion CC-licensed works available, and these will always be free for anyone to use and share. CC licenses work because of…
Trade agreements like TPP need radical transparency and meaningful public participation
by Timothy Vollmer Open CultureRolling Rebellion Sparks in Seattle to Defend Internet & Stop the TPP by Backbone Campaign, CC BY 2.0 Creative Commons and an international coalition of organizations and individuals has published the Brussels Declaration on Trade and the Internet. It follows the recent ceremonial signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is an example of a trade…
There’s still time to stop the TPP
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightTPPA Signing Protest in Auckland, by Prosperosity, CC BY-SA 4.0 Last week, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—the massive multilateral trade agreement negotiated in secret among government and industry representatives—was signed by officials in New Zealand. When the final text of the TPP was released in November 2015, we wrote about how the agreement is a direct…
COMMUNIA hosts public domain celebration in the European Parliament
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightThis is a guest post by Lisette Kalshoven. On Monday, January 25th COMMUNIA organized a Public Domain Day celebration at the European Parliament. COMMUNIA advocates for policies that expand the public domain and increase access to and reuse of culture and knowledge, and consists of many organisations including Creative Commons, Kennisland and Centrum Cyfrowe. The…
U.S. Department of Labor adopts CC BY licensing policy department-wide
by Cable Green Copyright, Open EducationCreative Commons (CC) believes publicly funded education, research and data resources should be shared in the global commons. The public should have access to what it paid for, and should not be required to pay twice (or more) to access, use, and remix publicly funded resources. This is why we are pleased…
New CC directors to focus on platforms and content creation
by Ryan Merkley About CCCreative Commons is pleased to announce the appointment of two new senior-level positions to help implement our new strategy. Last week, CC announced a renewed vision to create a vibrant, usable commons, powered by gratitude and collaboration. These two positions will be fundamental to bringing this strategy to life. I’m pleased to appoint Jane Park…
Celebrate CC music: Netlabel Day accepting applications from independent labels
by Jane Park Open CultureThe second annual Netlabel Day celebrating free music under Creative Commons licenses will take place on 14 July, 2016. The call for digital record labels is now open and applications will be accepted through 29 February. First organized by the Chilean label M.I.S.T. Records in March 2015, the 2015 edition featured 80 labels from around the world and released more than…
Copyright Week 2016: The public domain is not lost
by Timothy Vollmer UncategorizedWe’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of the law, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation. Every…