License Some rights reserved by tvol
The more I read about copyright, citation, attribution, and the struggle to what is legally correct and an acceptable loophole, the more I find myself in a fog. There seems to be great latitude under the “fair use” phrase especially when using material for an educational purpose. I take great solace in Doug Johnson’s compilation of copyright posts. He seems to be guided by a common sense theme, often missing from other discussions. The idea that as long as it is non-commercial, for an educational use, and attribution given one is most likely safe appeals to me. I have never heard of any school or child being given a take down order or taken to court.
Perhaps by encouraging students and teachers to license their images and other materials via Creative Commons each group will have a better feel for the ownership issue. Putting the shoe on the other foot so to speak.
Speaking of Creative Commons, the people at Common Craft have really got a knack of explaining things in a simple, concise way. Their video “Creative Commons Explained” is a perfect example of this. Years ago, I remember seeing one on wikis. I am going to look it up. Makes me wish I could draw.
Now for a confession. I did not read much of the Curator’s Code. I got to this paragraph,
“While we have systems in place for literary citation, image attribution, and scientific reference, we don’t yet have a system that codifies the attribution of discovery in curation as a currency of the information economy, a system that treats discovery as the creative labor that it is.”
and felt my eyes glaze over and my mind drift away to what I might have for dessert later. I sent the quote to friends teaching in Scotland. They have dubbed this an example of “Jargon as Another Language”. It was suggested we had been JALfered. I do understand the need for uniformity. I am after all a librarian who owns a copy of Sears Library Headings and a copy of Dewey Decimal Classification. I just want the argument to be in plain English.
