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Post in response to #H817open MOOC activity 9: Choosing a license for Open Content

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Context

Which is the most appropriate type of Creative Commons license for a commercial training organisation to use? Let’s consider the intended outcome of the organisation adopting an OER strategy in the first place. In this case, it is primarily about:

• Raising the profile of the organisation
• Increasing the perception of quality and usefulness the organisation can provide

Type of Open Content

There is a quantity of material that has been developed for use in training and consultancy with client organisations. A lot of this material, particularly slide-shows, could easily be repurposed for use by individuals within those organisations. Indeed, a lot of individual slides could be repurposed without using the entire slide show.

This material is already being created in a ‘frictionless’ way, though the future rate of supply is currently unknown.

We would want the users to be able to take what they need from the slideshows (individual slides) without having to use the whole thing. Therefore, they need to be able to modify the content.

We need the user to credit the organisation, as this is the chief way in which to raise its profile.

We would not want others to commercial exploit the organisation’s asset. Or would we care? If our organisation raises its profile is that enough. Probably the key commercial questions to ask are: 1) will it strengthen potential competitor organisations against our organisation’s position, and 2) will it divert potential spend with us, elsewhere?

Erring on the side of caution, the most productive and ‘safe’ option for the training organisation would be to go for the: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC 3.0)