Hi world!
During the past two weeks we have been discussing sharing and openness in the context of open learning. As a result of our fruitful discussions, a lot of fascinating aspects, relating to this topic, were revealed, but in my post here I would like to focus on a particular concern that I have in the context of OE and OER. A disclaimer: I am a lawyer, that has recently come to a realisation that most of my concerns usually stem from my professional background, something that I did not reflect much upon before.
The first and the foremost concern that I have is the feasibility of the protection of IP rights in the context of OE. While I was watching a video and a recording of the workshop on Creative Commons Licenses that perfectly explained how one can share the results of one’s work and determine how one’s work can be used by others, I could not help thinking about the legal practicalities of such a sharing tool, especially when it comes to its enforcement.
Let’s imagine a situation, where you create your work and state clearly that your work is not for commercial use. Then you realize that there is a lecturer at a tiny private institution in another jurisdiction (country) who actively uses your work in their teaching. The problem is that students can only be enrolled at this tiny private institution on a commercial basis, namely, they pay for their education there. That in its turn means that your work is used for commercial purposes against your expressly stated wishes and, of course, you do not get any royalties, associated with its use. If that happens, you can attempt to sue a violator for violating your IP rights (see, for instance, a couple of cases regarding violation of non-commercial use of Creative Commons Licenses, enlisted on their own Creative Common legal database, https://legaldb.creativecommons.org/cases/?tags%5B%5D=NonCommercial), but this route would be too tiresome, cumbersome and under the enlisted circumstances unreasonable, to be blunt. So, in the end you are left in a situation where your work is misused and there is little that you can actually do about. I personally find this aspect particularly disturbing as I cannot see how one’s IP rights can be protected in such a situation and that in its turn discourages me from actively using this tool.
What are your thoughts in this regard?