Introduction to Creative Commons

Professor Anne Fitzgerald

Creative Commons for You, and for Government,National Library of Australia, Canberra

4 November 2011

Firstly, an introduction to us Anne Fitzgerald

Overview of Creative Commons as a copyright-based licensing system

Neale Hooper How Creative Commons licences are being

used in the public sector – in government, education and research

Cheryl Foong Creative Commons in the creative industries,

and discussion of new business models

What is Creative Commons?

• a standardised system for licensing the use of copyright materials

• 6 standardised licences – available in plain english (summary), legalese and machine-

readable versions• Each licence grants a general permission to users to use

copyright material – that is, to copy, publish, distribute in digital form, publicly

perform– whether the whole or a substantial part of it

• on specified, standardised conditionsCredits: Background photo by Matthew Knott, Tasmania

CC-BY-NC-SA, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mknott/606575243/

CC is a copyright-based system of licences or “permissions”Copyright law gives copyright owners the rights to authorise

others to use their materials –permission to do specific actsAuthorisation or permission is granted in licencesNon-exclusive licences can generally be written or unwritten,

explicit or implied from the circumstances Some permissions have been generalised and codified as

exceptions in the Copyright Act e.g. fair dealingNot yet possible to codify the permissions for many kinds of

uses of copyright material – particularly the case for public sector materials

The CC licences provide a simple way of granting permission to use copyright materials, to overcome uncertainty – but do not cover all possible kinds of permissions – other kinds of permissions will have to be negotiated

Copyright• Copyright exists automatically in a vast range of

content and informational works:– literary (including computer programs and compilations)– dramatic– musical– artistic– films – sound recordings– broadcasts– published editions

• Copyright owner has extensive rights:– copy– publish– publicly perform– electronically communicate (eg on internet)– broadcast

Credits: Background photo by Rock Portrait Photography, Tasmania Jan 08, CC-BY-NC-ND, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/3214272112/

Copyright basicsGoverned by the Copyright Act (Cth)No registration required Copyright exists automatically once criteria

in the Act are satisfiedCopyright protects original expression

Not ideas, information or factsBut the form in which those ideas, information

or facts are expressed

Copyright basicsCopyright applies to an extensive range of

materials Broad range of rights exercisable by

copyright ownerCopyright has been extended to protect

Technology Protection Measures (TPMs) (eg encryption/anti-copying devices) on copyright materials;

Electronic Rights Management Information (ERMI)

CopyrightBundle of exclusive rights:

E.g. for Literary, dramatic and musical works Reproduce in material form Publish Perform Communicate to the public Make an adaptation or translation Control rental, where work is a computer program

or is reproduced in a sound recording: s 31(1)

Copyright basicsIn Australia, copyright can be effectively

enforced (civil and criminal remedies for infringement)

As a result, the consequences of infringement will deter use/reuse unless it is clear that the use is permitted

Importance of clear statement of permitted uses – to avoid infringement

Copyright in data compilations Copyright applies to data compilations if they

are sufficiently original Copyright does not apply to mere facts/information or

trivial/obvious/mundane arrangements of dataCopyright must apply to original data databases –

TRIPs and WIPO Copyright TreatyFor copyright to apply, there must usually be

originality provided by some independent intellectual creation/creative spark/application of skill and judgment

No special legal protection for non-original data collections (cf European Database Directive)

Copyright in data compilations Telstra Corporation Ltd v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd (2010)where an author or authors of a compilation

can clearly be identified; and it can be shown that the compilation is original

in the sense that it is the product of some “independent intellectual effort”; the exercise of “sufficient effort of a literary

nature”; involves a “creative spark”; or the exercise of “skill and judgment”, then it is likely to be protected by copyright.

[2010] FCA 44 at [344] per Gordon J. AUSTRALIA

Government (Crown) CopyrightVast amounts of government copyright materialsCopyright applies to:

Informational worksResearch outputs (reports, papers, databases)Cultural materials

Public Sector Information (PSI) in a broad sense includes material that is: created within government by government employees;produced externally by recipients of government funding; orprepared by non-government parties and lodged with

government under a statutory obligation or regulatory direction.

Creating information flows Complexity of information pathways:

within government – among departments, agencies, different levels of government; between government and community: from government to community; from community to

government to community; from local to national to global

Problem of “licence logjams”Copyright has been relied on by governments to control

access (to prevent flow of information or to preserve commercial rights)

Often, there is no licence, so access/use/reuse rights are unknown – high transaction cost of negotiating new licences

Where licences exist, terms are incomprehensible or inconsistent

Promoting the flow of information requires appropriate policy frameworks and licensing practices

What is Creative Commons?

Credits: Background photo by Rock Portrait Photography, Tasmania Jan 08,CC-BY-NC-ND, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/3214345846/

The CommonsPublic domain traditionally referred to

materials not subject to copyright protection because copyright had expired; orThe materials did not quality for copyright

protection.

Concept of public domain has been recast more broadly to mean ‘open’ knowledge and content.

Open Access to PSICreating a commons of public sector materials

New conceptualisation of “public domain” – insisting on no rights constrains thinking about public domain

Public domain is not just a no rights “wasteland [or] dump on the outskirts of respectable culture” (Bollier, “Viral Spiral”)

Something of value in its own right – open knowledge and content that can be accessed, reused and distributed

Encompasses materials that are copyright-protected and made available for access and reuse under open source software and open content licences

Open source software/open content concepts

• Openness (access/use/reuse) has to be structured / constructed - it does not happen by default - requires copyright and other interests to be actively managed to ensure the desired level of “openness” is achieved

• For intangibles / digital materials, law provides the means of structuring openness

• Open content licensing (eg Creative Commons licences) draws on Richard Stallman’s insights into how copyright can be used to ensure that freely distributed software source code remains open to other software coders (FOSS, GNU GPL)

• Absence of legal rights means just that (nothing) – if legal rights do not exist, the only control is through lock up (secrecy) or lock down (technological locks) – counterproductive to achieving openness

Credits: Background photo by Jayegirl99, Tasmania-4200CC-BY-SA, http://www.flickr.com/photos/julieedgley/3258094114/

What is Creative Commons?

• You can use it on copyright materials you create;

• You can use copyright materials created by others that are licensed under CC

Pallarenda north of town by Rob & Stephanie Levy http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/3152737052/

Use Creative Commons on copyright materials you create

• by applying a Creative Commons licence to copyright material which you have created - a photograph, a short story or article, a musical work, artwork, video, a dataset, a multi media product - you enable others to find your material online through using the standard search engines; give permission to others to lawfully use your material (eg copy, on-distribute, post to a website, value add, mashup– the scope of re-use will depend on which CC licence you select;

in return, you require them to acknowledge or attribute you as the creator and copyright owner of the materials (by using the attribution wording you select eg “Mary Jane Smothers”)

Pallarenda north of town by Rob & Stephanie Levy http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/3152737052/

Use copyright materials created by others that are licensed under Creative Commons?

• when others apply a Creative Commons licence to copyright material which they have created they enable you to find their material online through using the standard search engines; give permission to you to lawfully use their material eg copy, on-distribute, post to a website, value add, mashup– the scope of re-use will depend on which CC licence has been

selected); and, in return, they require you to acknowledge or attribute them as the creator and copyright owner of the materials (by using the attribution wording which they selected eg “Arthur Brown”)

Pallarenda north of town by Rob & Stephanie Levy http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/3152737052/

Standard CC Conditions of use • Attribution (BY) – attribute the author, and no false

attribution

• Non Commercial (NC) – no “commercial use” (as defined)

• No Derivatives (ND) – no changes allowed to original work

• Share Alike (SA) – changes allowed, but new work is to be distributed under the same licence as the original work

Credits: Background photo by Rock Portrait Photography, Tasmania Jan 08,CC-BY-NC-ND, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/3213598173/

Combined in a standardised suite of

licences

BYBY-NCBY-SA

BY-NDBY-NC-SA

BY-NC-ND

Credits: Background photo by photographerglen, Tasmania, CC-BY-NC-SA,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photographerglen/5910399115/

CC Licences

BY Attribution

BY-NC Attribution - Non Commercial

BY-SA Attribution - Share Alike

BY-ND Attribution - No Derivatives

BY-NC-SA Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike

BY-NC-ND Attribution - Non Commercial - No Derivatives

Clear and Simple

BY Attribution

BY-NC Attribution - Non Commercial

BY-SA Attribution - Share Alike

BY-ND Attribution - No Derivatives

BY-NC-SA Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike

BY-NC-ND Attribution - Non Commercial - No Derivatives

CC operates as a direct licence, from copyright owner to user

How CC came to be applied to PSI in Australia – a chronology • 1990s: Cutler, Wainwright – digital content strategy proposals• 2001: Office of Spatial Data Management (OSDM) access and reuse policy• 2004: Launch of Creative Commons in Australia• 2004: Launch by Queensland Government of Spatial Information Licensing Project 2005: Unlocking the Potential: Digital Content Industry Action Agenda, Strategic Industry Leaders

Group report to the Australian Government• 2005 – 2006: Queensland Government’s Government Information Licensing Framework (GILF)

proposed use of Creative Commons licensing for PSI - • 2007 – 2010: GILF project continues as a Queensland Government-QUT collaboration, developing

knowledge about and models for use of CC on PSI • 2007 on: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Geoscience Australia (GA), Bureau of Meteorology

(BoM) implement open access and adopt CC licensing; National Library of Australia; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; various State and local government initiatives

• 2008: OECD Ministerial Seoul Declaration on the Future of the Internet Economy - OECD Recommendations on publicly funded research (2006) and Access to PSI (2008)

• 2008: Venturous Australia report on National Innovation System (Cutler Report)• 2009: Australia’s Digital Economy, Future Directions (Department of Broadband, Communications

and the Digital Economy)• 2009: Victorian Parliament Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee (EDIC) report

(Government’s response 2010) • Government 2.0 Taskforce (2009), “Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0” (December 2009) • 2009: New Zealand (draft) Government Open Access Licensing Framework (NZGOAL); UK Power

of Information report • 2009 – 2010: Freedom of Information/Right to Information reforms – State and Federal legislation• 2010: Government response to Government 2.0 Taskforce report, accepting key recommendations

and stating that CC BY should be the default licence for PSI• 2010: Declaration of Open Government

Towards the digital economy • Emergence of digital online economy since mid-1990s

and, introduction of fast broadband online innovation and expansion of commercial activity

• Surging demand for new (digital) information/content products and services

• New online business models emerging

• Creative Commons (CC) lawful remix and re-use of innovative content and services

Credits: Background photo by Rock Portrait Photography, Tasmania Jan 08, CC-BY-NC-ND, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/3214297464/

Putting Innovation centre-stage

Information flow is a central part of the innovation agenda

The value of information/content is in its use/re-use Credits: Background photo by danishwindindustryassociation, Woolnorth, Tasmania,

CC-BY-NC, http://www.flickr.com/photos/danishwindindustryassociation/4150966664/

Venturous Australia recommendations

Open gate by chelmsfordblue (Nick)

•Australia should establish a National Information Strategy to optimise the flow of information in the Australian economy. The fundamental aim of a National Information Strategy should be to:

• maximise the flow of government generated information, research, and content for the benefit of users (including private sector resellers of information).

•A specific strategy for ensuring the scientific knowledge produced in Australia is placed in machine searchable repositories be developed and implemented using public funding agencies and universities as drivers.

•Information, research and content funded by Australian governments – including national collections – should be made freely available over the internet as part of the global public commons, to the maximum extent possible.

Venturous Australia (2008)

Recommendation 7.8

• Australian governments should adopt international standards of open publishing as far as possible. Material released for public information by Australian governments should be released under a creative commons licence.

CC and the national information strategy • National information policy has various platform

components – FoI/Right to Information; data protection; information standards

• Most countries worldwide recognise government copyright in a wide range of data/information/content • BUT, in many instances governments rely on copyright

to impose restrictions on use/reuse, for various reasons (eg commercial arrangments)

• Government copyright needs to be managed to support openness

OECD PSI Recommendation the “Openness” principle states:

“Maximising the availability of public sector information for use and re-use based upon presumption of openness as the default rule to facilitate access and re-use. Developing a regime of access principles or assuming openness in public sector information as a default rule wherever possible no matter what the model of funding is for the development and maintenance of the information. Defining grounds of refusal or limitations, such as for protection of national security interests, personal privacy, preservation of private interests for example where protected by copyright, or the application of national access legislation and rules.”

the “Access and transparent conditions for re-use” principle states: “Encouraging broad non-discriminatory competitive access and

conditions for re-use of public sector information, eliminating exclusive arrangements, and removing unnecessary restrictions on the ways in which it can be accessed, used, re-used, combined or shared, so that in principle all accessible information would be open to re-use by all. Improving access to information over the Internet and in electronic form. Making available and developing automated on-line licensing systems covering re-use in those cases where licensing is applied, taking into account the copyright principle below.”

Victorian Parliament’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee (EDIC) Report, Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data (2009)

Gov 2.0 Taskforce – “Engage: getting on with Government 2.0” December 2009; http://gov2.net.auCentral recommendation: A declaration of open

government by the Australian Government

Recommendation 6: Make public sector information open, accessible and reusable [chapter 5, p 58]

6.1 By default, Public Sector Information (PSI) should be: free based on open standards easily discoverable understandable machine-readable freely reusable and transformable.

6.2 PSI should be released as early as practicable and regularly updated to ensure its currency is maintained.

6.3 Consistent with the need for free and open reuse and adaptation, PSI released should be licensed under the Creative Commons BY standard as the default.

Government’s response to Gov 2.0 Taskforce reporthttp://www.finance.gov.au/publications/govresponse20report/index.html

Generally accepted Gov 2.0 Taskforce’s recommendations (12 out of 13)agreed in principle to Recommendation 6,

including: 6.3 Consistent with the need for free and open reuse

and adaptation, PSI released should be licensed under the Creative Commons BY standard as the default.

Government’s response was released under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 2.5 Australia licence

Commonwealth Government’s Statement of IP Principles (2010) 11.(b) Consistent with the need for free and open re-use and adaptation,

public sector information should be licensed by agencies under the Creative Commons BY standard as the default.

  An agency’s starting position when determining how to license its public

sector information should be to consider Creative Commons licences (http://creativecommons.org.au/) or other open content licences.

  Agencies should license their public sector information under a Creative

Commons licence or other open content licence following a process of due diligence and on a case-by-case basis.

  Before releasing public sector information, for which the

Commonwealth is not the sole copyright owner, under a Creative Commons BY standard or another open content licence, an agency may need to negotiate with any other copyright owners of the material.

Principles on open public sector information (OAIC, 2011)Principle 1: Open access to information - a default position Information held by Australian Government agencies is a valuable national

resource. If there is no legal need to protect the information it should be open to public access. Information publication enhances public access. Agencies should use information technology to disseminate public sector information, applying a presumption of openness and adopting a proactive publication stance.

Principle 6: Clear reuse rights The economic and social value of public sector information is enhanced when

it is made available for reuse on open licensing terms. The Guidelines on Licensing Public Sector Information for Australian Government Agencies require agencies to decide licensing conditions when publishing information online. The default condition should be the Creative Commons BY standard, as recommended in the Intellectual Property Principles for Australian Government Agencies, that apply to agencies subject to the Financial and Management Accountability Act 1997. Additional guidance on selecting an appropriate licence is given in the Australian Government Open Access and Licensing Framework (AUSGOAL). http://oaic.gov.au/publications/agency_resources/principles_on_psi_short.html

Statement of new copyright licensing practice – Cth Attorney-General’s website ‘In line with a recommendation of the

Government 2.0 Taskforce Report, Commonwealth Government agencies are now required to release copyright public sector information under Creative Commons BY-licences or other open content licences, wherever possible. 

If you are seeking to use Commonwealth of Australia copyright material, this material in many cases should be available for use under a Creative Commons BY licence. If you are unsure whether a BY licence applies to the specific material that you wish to use, we recommend that you contact the agency which produced that material or, if that agency no longer exists, the current agency with the relevant policy responsibility. The Australia.gov.au website contains links to the websites of each Government agency.  Agencies will shortly be posting information about their copyright procedures on their websites.

For information about how Government agencies manage their intellectual property, refer to the Statement of Intellectual Property Principles for Australian Government Agencies. For further information about Creative Commons licences, see the Creative Commons website.’ http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/

CopyrightCommonwealth_Copyright_Administration

Credits: Background photo by Rock Portrait Photography, Tasmania Jan 08,CC-BY-NC-ND, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/3214345846/

Why use CC licences?Other standardised licences e.g. UK Open Government Licence

(OGL) are not fully internationally recognisedPermits international platforms (collaborations and

contributions across various sectors) No other standardised licence has an equally supportive and

viable central organisation CC applies to all government and non-government copyright

material (except software)CC uses icons (which have gained full international recognition

and which are not language specific) CC’s licence metadata / digital code is embedded, making it

machine-readable, searchable & retrievable CC provides for a clear statement about the source of the data

(attribution/provenance) – increased user confidence

Copyright licensing – traditional practiceAll (or most) rights reservedRequires prior permission from copyright owner unless

within an exception to owner’s rights (e.g. fair dealing) under the Copyright Act

Negotiating terms is cumbersome, time consuming, expensive – inefficiency means high transaction costs

Has led to multiple non-standard licences Problem of “orphan” works – no identifiable copyright

owner from whom permission may be obtained Arose from pre-internet era - not geared to the

immediate and global nature of the internet

Features of CC licences Some rights only reservedRelatively short, simplified, standardised licences

which provide permission in advanceDo not contain detailed provisions covering all

relevant aspects of the law Must be read in the context of copyright law

(legislation & judgments) and often other relevant bodies of law (e.g. private international law – “jurisdictional” issues and applicable law)

Also have to be read in context of other relevant “information” laws notably privacy (data protection), security, and interception of communications (telecommunications)

Simplification vs comprehensibility and enforceabilityWhy not just have a simple, short statement

of users’ permissions?For the licences to be legally enforceable, the

courts require the copyright owner’s permissions (i.e. scope and nature) to be clearly stated

The courts will not simply “fill in the blanks” to deliver the outcome which may have been intended by the parties. The courts will look only at the actual wording.