Should we include something like this in each theme?
http://www3.open.ac.uk/learners-guide/copyright.htm
In reply to Art Lader
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Floyd Collins -
ummm why
In reply to Art Lader
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by David Delgado -
Art, that is against the GPL licence that Moodle is released under and even against the Open Source concept itself. I am afraid, and happy that it could not be possible to put that Copyright notice, at least with the main Moodle distribution.
These are very bad sentences for me:
"You are not permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, show or play in public, adapt or change in any way the content of these web pages for any other purpose whatsoever without the prior written permission of the Open University [Moodle]." - Do you have to sign a (commercial) agreement with Moodle to use it?
"In accessing these web pages, you agree that you may only download the content for your own personal non-commercial use." - No commercial use of Moodle? Why? Should we still keep stucked in WebCT and Blackboard?
Art, I cannot understand why do you think Moodle should become a "product" like the one you are suggesting. If you are only thinking about contents in courses, even that thing sounds really bad to me. Can't they be Open Content? In this case, you allow any use, even commercial.
It would not be possible to do that, at least with Moodle software, since it is already released under GPL licence, and this cannot be revoked, since any derivatives from it are automaticly licensed under the same GPL License.
Art, I would like to know what makes you think that way. I do not understand this at all.
I like free software... "free as in Freedom" ("Software libre", in Spanish). Software like Moodle.
These are very bad sentences for me:
"You are not permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, show or play in public, adapt or change in any way the content of these web pages for any other purpose whatsoever without the prior written permission of the Open University [Moodle]." - Do you have to sign a (commercial) agreement with Moodle to use it?
"In accessing these web pages, you agree that you may only download the content for your own personal non-commercial use." - No commercial use of Moodle? Why? Should we still keep stucked in WebCT and Blackboard?
Art, I cannot understand why do you think Moodle should become a "product" like the one you are suggesting. If you are only thinking about contents in courses, even that thing sounds really bad to me. Can't they be Open Content? In this case, you allow any use, even commercial.
It would not be possible to do that, at least with Moodle software, since it is already released under GPL licence, and this cannot be revoked, since any derivatives from it are automaticly licensed under the same GPL License.
Art, I would like to know what makes you think that way. I do not understand this at all.
I like free software... "free as in Freedom" ("Software libre", in Spanish). Software like Moodle.
In reply to David Delgado
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Chris Mawson -
Aren't we confusing two different things here, the software itself (moodle) covered by the GPL licence, and the content added by particular institutions, eg. online course material, covered by copyright laws.
I think we are.
In my view it should be quite valid to include a copyright notice in regards to the content, as opposed to the software.
Chris Mawson.
In reply to Chris Mawson
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by David Delgado -
Chris, I was talking about both things. I said that "If you are only thinking about contents in courses, even that thing sounds really bad to me. Can't they be Open Content?" (follow the link from "Open Content" to GNU Free Documentation License)
Art was talking about putting that copyright in "Themes", wich are part of Moodle software itself, so part of GPL License.
Anyway, even if the Themes are being distributed alone, you cannot force people to distribute their contents with that Copyright, not allowing to copy or modify them nor giving them a commercial use. You do not even have the right to do that, since you are putting a copyright notice on some contents you have not produced. So, you do not have any Intelectual Propiety rights on them.
Perhaps I was not able to be clear enough when I told you about this. I hope that it is all understandable now. Perhaps it is me that I misunderstood anything. If so, please let me know.
Art was talking about putting that copyright in "Themes", wich are part of Moodle software itself, so part of GPL License.
Anyway, even if the Themes are being distributed alone, you cannot force people to distribute their contents with that Copyright, not allowing to copy or modify them nor giving them a commercial use. You do not even have the right to do that, since you are putting a copyright notice on some contents you have not produced. So, you do not have any Intelectual Propiety rights on them.
Perhaps I was not able to be clear enough when I told you about this. I hope that it is all understandable now. Perhaps it is me that I misunderstood anything. If so, please let me know.
In reply to David Delgado
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Chris Mawson -
Ok, I didn't read your reply carefully enough.
I agree that the 'themes' would probably be covered by the GPL also, however I still disagree re. the 'content of courses'.
While it is possible to argue about the are pros and cons of having 'open content' generally, most organisations (although there are exceptions) that I have had contact with consider that they own the content/IP of their courses, irrespective of the content management system used. The GPL does not seem to have anything to do with 'course content' within, in this case, a content management system. Hence I think there are two different issues.
The GNU Free Documentation License you mention refers to free documentation related to the software itself, eg. a software manual, not 'course content' published in a CMS and hence I don't think it is relevant in terms of what we are discussing.
Cheers
In reply to Chris Mawson
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Martin Dougiamas -
I have to agree ... content within Moodle is definitely owned by all the people who make it in their local context, and not covered by Moodle's GPL. Whether or not each site wants to assert their copyright of the content in different ways is up to them, including adding notices in their custom theme - it's not really something that should be in the standard themes though.
In reply to Martin Dougiamas
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Bryan Williams -
True! There are companies for example that sell fancy additions for proprietary software, PowerPoint comes to mind. You can buy a pack of several dozen themes that cost more than the software itself. However, this idea in my mind violates the "spirit" of open source. Kind of like putting fancy hubcaps on a new Mercedes and claiming some type of design ownership. Free is good, charge for services! What would be nice is a GUI that allows us to easily work with and create theme skins without mucking up the middleware. Other open source folks make a cooperative venture of this (for fun), rather than a competitive alternative that benefits the few.
In reply to David Delgado
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Art Lader -
David,
I had simply not read it closely enough and had not thought this all the way through. Dumb
I was in the middle of another thread and had been thinking a lot about how to protect myself from crazy students and parents and their lawyers and had looked up "disclaimer."
But the part about not being responsible for accuracy, the content of other web sites, etc., might be a good idea, I think. No?
-- Art Lader
I had simply not read it closely enough and had not thought this all the way through. Dumb
I was in the middle of another thread and had been thinking a lot about how to protect myself from crazy students and parents and their lawyers and had looked up "disclaimer."
But the part about not being responsible for accuracy, the content of other web sites, etc., might be a good idea, I think. No?
-- Art Lader
In countries that respect and enforce copyright law the simple act of exhibiting, publishing or sharing your content triggers the copyright law. This excludes anything explicitly excluded by your notice. In this case the delivery of copyright protected material is done by Moodle. Moodle is also protected by copyright. A notice would be more meaningful if it was used to express which parts of your content you are willing to share rather than protect. As soon as you can read it it's protected. Check with your local regulators to be sure.
In reply to John Gone
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by koen roggemans -
You're right: everything you write is protected, unless you say it's not. It's one of the (bad) arguments being used to fight against Open Source software: since it's automaticly protected, you can't give it away (must be a lawyers idea)
A copyright notice won't keep someone who want to steel your material away, and a person who knows about good behavior on using someone elses work will be polite and ask if he can use it.
In reply to koen roggemans
Re: Include a copyright notice and disclaimer in each theme?
by Peter Venn -
The concept of Moodle (Open Source) is/seems to be the offer of a free system to create and distribute learning. Discussing this with colleagues, I am still in wonder that such a richly functional system is available so freely.
That said, doesn't it make sense that content created within such a system carries those same values (freedom of distribution, collaborative learning etc)? For course content, I can certainly appreciate that those spending the time to create such material need to be content that someone else (maybe a commercial venture) isn't going to rip it off and repackage it as their own. But from my investigation, I think that the copyright Acts of most countries cater for this need.
There is different legislation in different countries, however, I do believe that (once you've complied and registered copyright ownership of your material) it is possible to create a notice that says (word to the effect of) "Copyright (c) 2004 <companyname>. You are allowed to use, download or print this material for your own personal use. However, you must not copy it, repackage it or otherwise distribute it as your own".
For me, the fundamental value of Moodle is that folk like me (with zero budget) can try to make a difference by sharing knowledge freely with others. Martin and his team has enabled this with the moodle scripts: surely we should support that team's values with our "open source"content.