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This page covers licensing and copyright issues as they pertain to the One Laptop Per Child project. To learn how to license your materials so OLPC can use them, read the [[Licensing#Quickstart:_Licensing_your_material|quickstart]]. The super-short version for those already familiar with the various licenses:
This page covers licensing and copyright issues as they pertain to the One Laptop per Child project.
* '''Are you writing code for an end-user application?''' Use the GPL.
* '''Are you writing a code library?''' Use the LGPL or MIT license.
* '''Are you creating something else?''' Release your work into the public domain with the CC-PD declaration. If you can't do that, use CC-BY.


For those already familiar with open licenses, our advice is:
== Overview ==
* '''Are you writing code for an end-user application?''' Use the [[GPL]].
* '''Are you writing a code library?''' Use the [[LGPL]] or [[MIT license]].
* '''Are you creating a text or media work?''' Release your work under a [[CC-Attribution]] or [[CC-BY-SA license]].
* '''Are you creating a purely factual or reference work?''' Release your work into the [[public domain]] (e.g., with the CC-PD declaration).


For a succinct introduction to open licensing, see the Open Knowledge Foundation's [http://www.opendefinition.org/guide Guide to open licensing].
For a quick introduction to open licensing, watch Creative Commons' short [http://support.creativecommons.org/videos#gc "Get Creative"] movie. In a nutshell, when you create something (anything - a piece of software, music, a book, a picture, and more) you own the copyright to your creation. Copyrights "protect" your work by legally ensuring that other people can't use, copy, modify, or redistribute it without your permission. However, sometimes you make something you ''want'' to share with other people, and you want to tell them it's okay to copy, remix, share - and most importantly, ''improve'' what you've made without having to ask you for permission every single time.


For a list of open licenses and information on how to apply them, see their [http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses licenses page].
You can do this by releasing your work into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain public domain] or under an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_license open license] that explains to other people what they can and can't do with your work (entirely up to you - for instance, you might allow people to distribute your work, but only for non-commercial purposes, and only if they give you credit). You can license your work by referencing or including a short licensing statement from within the work itself; it usually takes only a minute or two, and there are instructions on how to do this later in this page.


OLPC is a strong advocate for and practitioner of open licensing, as the project is designed around the idea of the free sharing of knowledge. Our goal is to empower children to share and build on what they learn in every way imaginable. There should be no barriers to children who wish to recreate and build on the materials, software, and tools they are given; everyone should be free to use, redistribute, and produce modified version of and works derived from these things. For more on OLPC's specific views on this, see the [[OLPC on open source software]] and [[Content#On free knowledge|OLPC on free knowledge]] sections.
OLPC is a strong advocate for and practitioner of open licensing, as the project is designed around the idea of the free sharing of knowledge. Our goal is to empower children to share and build on what they learn in every way imaginable. There should be no barriers to children who wish to recreate and build on the materials, software, and tools they are given; everyone should be free to use, redistribute, and produce modified version of and works derived from these things. For more on OLPC's specific views on this, see the [[OLPC on open source software]] and [[Content#On free knowledge|OLPC on free knowledge]] sections.


== Why bother? ==
== License setting on the XO ==
The methods and metadata for setting a license for material created on an XO network are under discussion. A group @ Creative Commons (nod to Asheesh L.) has mostly ported their [[liblicense package]] to integrate neatly into [[Sugar]]. ''See [[Talk:Licensing#Setting your license]] for details.''


Licensing is a complex topic, and many people don't bother to take a few minutes to learn about it, thinking that they can always re-release their creations under an open license later on. This is ''usually'' true, but the longer a copyrighted work is out there, the more successful it becomes, and the more people contribute to it, the more difficult it gets to release it under an open license since you have to have permission of all copyright holders to relicense any work. For example, it took the Mozilla project several years, and huge amounts of work, to get permission to relicense their code base from all of the authors. In some other examples, entire software libraries had to be duplicated because they happened to use binary commercial plugins.


== Q and A on licensing contributed for the purposes of OLPC content ==
Requiring copyright assignment so that you have control can also become a nightmare: it reduces the number of possible contributors significantly, as many people have employers who won't allow copyright assignment or make it very difficult, and it reduces the number of people with standing in court in case the copyright is violated. Some projects, notably the GNU project for some software, require copyright assignment for all contributions. Sometimes this can be the right strategy if the software might be free software is also available under commercial licenses for
proprietary use. There are quite a few examples of this as a business model for the funding of free software development (e.g. BerkeleyDB of Sleepycat Software, now part of Oracle).


=== Contributing software ===
Releasing your projects under an open license from the start, and being public and clear about the terms under which you're releasing it, makes your creations free to share, now and in the future, with the absolute minimum amount of effort and fuss. So what? Well...


'''Q1. I would like to contribute pieces of software and libraries to OLPC, so that they can be used on XOs around the world. What should I do?'''
* Would you like to reach and help more people? Open-licensing puts your creations within the reach of people who might not otherwise be able to afford licensing fees. This is especially important to education; teachers and students need to be able to find and use tools and information without having to worry about copyright issues.
* Would you like your creation (and your name) to be used and known by more people? Making something free to share makes it much more likely that it (and your reputation, if you require attribution) will be shared. Also, if you allow people to make derivative works from your creation, the "children" of something you made could spread even further.
* Would you like more people to help you work on your creation? Open licensing makes it easier for newcomers to jump in and contribute.


A1. We recommend licensing material under the [[MIT]], [[LGPL]], or [[GPL]] licenses. For more on OLPC's specific views on this, see the [[OLPC on open source software]] page and [[Talk:Licensing#Setting your license]].
== Quickstart: Licensing your material ==


=== Contributing content ===
# '''Get permission''' from all copyright holders (in almost all cases, this is the list of all creators/contributors prior to a work's open-licensing) to relicense the work. If you are the sole creator(s) of a work that doesn't include any other copyrighted content and haven't assigned the copyright of your work to anyone else, you're good to go.
# '''Choose a license.''' Read the [[Licensing#Overview of licences|overview of licenses]] section below for a brief overview of your options. For code, we recommend the GPL for end-user applications and the LGPL or MIT licenses for libraries. For all other content, we recommend releasing your work into the public domain via [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/ CC-PD] if this is possible. If releasing it into the public domain is not possible, we recommend the CC-BY license.
# '''Apply your license.''' Follow the how-to link under the license you picked; the links for our recommended licenses are given below.
#* [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html GPL and LGPL] - for releasing your code via the GNU General Public License or the Lesser General Public License. The GPL is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software (with or without changes; for free or for money), must pass along the freedom to further copy, change, and understand it. The GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program -- to make sure it remains free software for all its users. In contrast, the LGPL allows proprietary use of your software as well.
#* [http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT] - To license your software under the MIT license, include the license text specified in the link, or a reference to it, in your source files.
#* [http://creativecommons.org/license/publicdomain-2? CC-PD] - for releasing your content via the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/ Creative Commons Public Domain declaration]. This releases your copyright and lets your work be freely used, changed, and shared by anyone for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and in any way, including by methods that have not yet been invented or conceived.
#* [http://creativecommons.org/license/results-one?license_code=by CC-BY] - for releasing your content via the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution license]. This license lets others use, change, and share your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you with original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered in terms of what others can do with your work.
# '''That's it!''' A few notes:
#* OLPC will generally only host notes with one of the five recommended licenses above.
#* You ''will'' be attributed as the creator or publisher of these works wherever they are used. Moral rights guarantee this in many parts of the world; a CC Attribution license adds an extra emphasis on doing so. If you would like to be attributed in a particular way - with connection to a logo, originating website, or source repository, please include those materials and links xalong with the work. Please also include information about any authors and organizations who have been involved with the creation of a work who should receive similar recognition.


'''Q1. I would like to contribute pieces of my work to OLPC, in order to use them incorporated into the XOs and school servers, which are going to be distributed to children in the emerging world. What should I do?'''
== Quickstart: Asking others to license their material ==


A1. OLPC is always looking to expand its content repositories with new ideas on quality educational content that could be included on the XOs or the school servers.
{{stub}}


For more information on the process of contributing content to OLPC, please see the sections of “How to contribute” and “Submitting Your Content to OLPC” available at: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributing_content#Submitting_Your_Content_to_OLPC.
# '''Find out who owns the content.''' Get contact information for the copyright holders of the works you would like to see relicensed. In most cases, this will be the original creator(s) and their publishers, where applicable.
# (this section under construction)
# '''Be nice.''' Be polite - and emphasize that this is for a charitable purpose and that no commercial gain is involved. (You can point to the "Non-commercial" clause option in the Creative Commons licenses, if need be.)


'''Q2. What forms of work I could contribute to OLPC?'''
See the [[Licensing petitions]] for discussion on material that isn't open-licensed yet, but which we'd really like to be.


A2. We are particularly interested in materials that are produced specially for children and teachers; designed for ease of localization, customization, and other reuse; available in many languages; and available under a free content license. Materials can include the following: <br>
== Overview of licenses ==
*Texts – stories and poems; textbooks, workbooks, how-tos and lab manuals;
*Reference works – encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps and atlases;
*Images – symbols and fonts, blueprints, sketches, photographs and art;
*Multimedia content – animations, audio books, songs and audio recordings, videos;
*Software – games, tools, scripts, simulations, self-assessments and interactive tools.


For more information, please review the section of Content Ideas available at: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributing_content#Content_Ideas
=== Public Domain (Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication [CC-PD] ===


=== Copyright and OLPC ===
Once placed in the public domain, your work may be freely used, changed, and shared by anyone for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and in any way, including by methods that have not yet been invented or conceived. Peter St-Andre has an excellent essay, [http://www.saint-andre.com/thoughts/publicdomain.html "Who's Afraid of the Public Domain?"] that outlines the reasons to release your work into the public domain.


'''Q3. How does the international perspective of the content affect the licensing schemes, represented by OLPC?'''
One way to release your work into the public domain is to visit the [http://creativecommons.org/license/publicdomain-2? Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication Form], which will guide you through the process of placing your work under the Creative Commons "Public Domain Dedication." The form will ask you for your email, name, and title of work, and send you a confirmation email to verify your contact information. Then, it will autogenerate the license text for you along with instructions for how to include it in your work.
A3. XOs are going to be deployed all over the world and in several jurisdictions. Each country has its own laws and regulations governing the distribution of content materials. Thus, there is a strong interest on behalf of OLPC to distribute educational content with proper attributions to its contributors, according to the licensing schemes, which OLPC represents, and to the rules and regulations of the countries, in which the XOs are delivered.


'''Q4. What can be considered as a copyrightable work?'''
*Read the Creative Commons [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/ Public Domain Dedication]


A4. Copyright refers to a wide array of works, which includes poems; plays; theses; paintings; drawings; movies; musical compositions; photographs; software; and other literary and artistic works. It covers only the form or the manner in which ideas are manifested and not the idea that is incorporated by itself.
=== Creative Commons Attribution license [CC-BY] ===
In addition, protection under copyright law is only provided to “original works of authorship.” However, the requirements of originality are generally low. Additionally, different countries impose different standards and tests of originality.


'''Q5. Which are some of the indicative categories of copyrightable works?'''
This license lets others use, change, and share your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you with original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered in terms of what others can do with your work.


A5. The U.S. Copyright Act includes an illustrative list of the works, which can be protected by copyright laws.
*Read the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Commons Deed]
*View the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode Legal Code]


This list includes:
=== Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license [CC-BY-SA] ===


*Literary works; that is, works other than audiovisual works expressed in words, numbers, other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the note of the material objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, films, tapes, disks, cards, in which they are embodied. These works include computer databases and computer programs to the extent they incorporate authorship in the programmer’s expression of original ideas as distinguished from the ideas themselves.
This license lets others use, change, and share your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you with original creation and license new creations under identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.
*Pictorial and graphic works; that is, two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic and applied art, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models and technical drawings;
*Musical works and sound recordings; in particular, owners of a musical composition enjoy the full complement of rights, whereas sound recordings do not receive a traditional performance right (however, they now have a digital performance right). Musical works can be written on paper and pressed onto a phonorecord, recorded on audiotape, or otherwise fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
*Motion pictures and audiovisual works; that is, series of related images which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of machines or devices, such as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment together with accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of material objects, such as films or tapes, in which the works are embodied.


'''Q6. What is defined as a joint, a collective and a derivative work? Why are these kinds of works important in our case?'''
*Read the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Commons Deed]
*View the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Legal Code]


A6. The creation and use of joint, derivative and collective works is especially important for OLPC, as it embodies the significance of collaboration, sharing and continuity in education.
=== Creative Commons Non-commercial license [CC-NC] ===
This license lets others use, change, and share your work non-commercially, and although their new works must acknowledge you, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.


A joint work is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contribution be merged into inseparable or interdependent part of a unitary whole.
*Read the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ Commons Deed]
*View the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode Legal Code]


A collective work, according to the Creative Commons licenses, which OLPC is implementing, means a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology or encyclopedia, in which the work in its entirety in unmodified form, along with one or more other contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. A work that constitutes a collective work will not be considered a derivative work (as defined below) for the purposes of a Creative Commons license.
=== GNU Free Documentation License [GFDL] ===
Similar to the GPL (see above), the GNU Free Documentation License is a form of copyleft intended for use on a manual, textbook or other document to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifications, either commercially or non-commercially.


A derivative work, according to the CC licenses, means a work based upon one or more pre-existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which the original work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.
* Read the current [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html GNU Free Documentation License]


'''Q7. What is OLPC’s position regarding the copyright and licensing protection of the works incorporated into the XOs and the school servers?'''
=== GNU General Public License [GPL] ===
Abridged from the GNU website:
:The GNU General Public License is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works. Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software, with or without changes, must pass along the freedom to further copy and change it. The GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program-- to make sure it remains free software for all its users.


A6. OLPC strongly supports open licensing, as free content policy is pertinent to its mission to enable children’s access to knowledge without barriers by enabling them to share freely the materials and tools they are given.
*Read the GPL [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html Legal Code]


Therefore, regarding materials, such as texts, reference works, multimedia content, or images, OLPC suggests to its contributors to make their works available to OLPC with a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution or Attribution – Share-alike licenses (CC 3.0 BY or CC 3.0 BY-SA).
The '''CC-GNU GPL''' adds the Creative Commons' metadata and Commons Deed to the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License.


=== Licensing appendix ===
*Read the Creative Commons GNU-GPL [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/GPL/2.0/ Commons Deed]


'''Q7. What are the Creative Commons BY and BY-SA licenses?'''
=== GNU Lesser General Public License [LGPL] ===


A7. Citing the Creative Commons’ website:
Using the ordinary GPL for your software makes it available only for free programs; using the LGPL makes it available for use in proprietary programs as well. Read [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html Why you shouldn't use the Lesser GPL for your next library] for an in-depth comparison between the GPL and the LGPL.
* a Creative Commons Attribution license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
* a Creative Commons Attribution – Share-alike license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.


Creative Commons apply to works that are protected by copyright. They give you the ability to “dictate how others may exercise your rights on the work” – such as, for example, the right to copy, to make derivative works or adaptations or to distribute your work. For that reason, they come attached to your work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license.
*Read the LGPL [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html Legal Code]


Creative Commons licenses are all non-exclusive licenses. This means that you can permit licensees to use your work under a Creative Commons license and then enter into a separate and different non-exclusive license with someone else, even under different than the CC license terms.
The '''CC-GNU LGPL''' adds the Creative Commons' metadata and Commons Deed to the Free Software Foundation's GNU Lesser General Public License.


*Read the Creative Commons GNU-LGPL [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/LGPL/2.1/ Commons Deed]
'''Q8. What are not the Creative Commons BY and BY-SA licenses?'''


A8. Creative Commons licenses do not apply to things such as ideas, factual information or other things that are not protected by copyright. The case of non-protected by copyright works varies in different jurisdictions.
=== MIT License ===


Furthermore, they do not give you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright – as, for example, fair use – nor they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas, as we described above.
*Read the MIT License [http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php Legal Code]

More information about questions 7 and 8 and the use of Creative Commons licenses, please see http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ#What_things_should_I_think_about_before_I_apply_a_Creative_Commons_license_to_my_work.3F.

'''Q9. How do Creative Commons 3.0 BY and BY-SA licenses apply in the OLPC case?'''

A9. Consistent with the open source policy of OLPC and the mission to enable the most expansive use and sharing of knowledge worldwide, Creative Commons Attribution and Attribution – Share-alike licenses enhance the ability of OLPC to succeed in these goals by giving to both OLPC and children - the users of the XOs – the benefit to the greatest extent from the educational value of its content. Creative Commons licenses let the users copy and distribute the materials, as well as create upon them, by making translations, adaptations or other innovative uses of them.

'''Q10. How can you use the Creative Commons licenses in the OLPC case? What is the process you should meet?'''

A10. Before applying a Creative Commons 3.0 BY or BY-SA, first of all, please make sure that you have the authority to license the work.

This means that you should be the owner of the work. Ownership of copyrighted works is governed differently in each jurisdiction. Mainly, you should make sure, if you are the sole author of the work, that there are no agreements (i.e. as an employee, et cetera) posing restrictions on the way you can use your rights on the work.

On the other hand, if you combined pre-existing works (i.e. texts, photographs, paintings, sketches, poems, stories, etc.) in your work or you jointly produced the work with others, you need to make sure you have the express and explicit permission to apply a Creative Commons license to the end result.

In addition, you should particularly define what you are CC-licensing, in terms of the work itself, its format, as well as its elements.

More information regarding the use of CC licenses you can find available at: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Before_Licensing.

'''Q11. Where can I find forms that I could use in order to submit my works, certifying that I am licensing them to OLPC according to CC 3.0 BY or CC 3.0 BY-SA?'''

A11. Below you can find sample generic forms that you should submit to OLPC along with the submission of your content, which certify that you are licensing to OLPC your works for use, according to the purposes of OLPC and the Creative Commons 3.0 BY or BY-SA licenses:

* [[Media:Generic_Form_of_Agreement.pdf|Form for CC 3.0 BY]]
* [[Media:CC_BY_SA.pdf|Form for CC 3.0 BY-SA]]


== Licenses ==
=== GPL ===

The GNU General Public Licence ('''GPL''') is a is a widely-used free software license, originally written for the GNU project. Software licensed under the GPL is free enough to be part of the default software platform on the OLPC laptops.

For more information, please see the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPL Wikipedia article about the GNU General Public License].

GNU Public license. One of the many licensing methods for distributing software.
Use template {{tl|GPL}} or {{tl|CC-GNU-GPL}} for placing a 'GPL badge' on your page.

=== GFDL ===

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License GNU Free Documentation License] (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project. It is the counterpart to the GNU General Public License that gives readers the same rights to copy, redistribute and modify a work and requires all copies and derivatives to be available under the same license.

The GFDL was designed for manuals, textbooks, other reference and instructional materials, and documentation which often accompanies GNU software. However, it can be used for any text-based work, regardless of subject matter. For example, Wikipedia uses the GFDL for all of its text.


=== LGPL ===
<!-- template <nowiki>{{LGPL}}</nowiki> needs to be created -->

The '''LGPL''' is a software license related to the GPL, and useful in particular for software libraries.

: ''see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGPL''


=== MIT ===
<!-- template <nowiki>{{LGPL}}</nowiki> needs to be created -->

For text of MIT license see http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

: ''see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mit_license''

=== PD ===
''Use template {{tl|PD}}.''

Material released into or available through the public domain. This applies to material whose copyright has expired, and that whose authors have explicitly so released it. The latter type of material may retain ''moral rights'' in various jurisdictions.

There is also a CC-PD badge which is sometimes used to denote material that has been confirmed or affirmed as being in the public domain.

=== CC-BY ===
''Use template {{tl|CC-BY}}.''

The Creative Commons Attribution license. The preferred OLPC license for factual and educational material.

* [[Media:Generic_Form_of_Agreement.pdf|Form for CC 3.0 BY]]

=== CC-BY-SA ===
''Use template {{tl|CC-BY-SA}}.''

The Creative Commons Share Alike license. Preserves attribution, and requires any derivative work to be made available under the same license; effectively preventing a derivative work from becoming rival.

* [[Media:CC_BY_SA.pdf|Form for CC 3.0 BY-SA]]

=== CC-BY-NC ===
The Creative Commons Non-Commercial license. Preserves attribution, and prohibits the work from being used or redistributed commercially.

This is not one of our recommended licenses, because of incompatibility with the above CC licenses, but material under this license is made available through our school libraries.


[[Category:Resources]]
[[Category:Developers]]

== See also ==
*[[Contributing content]]
*[[Content#On free knowledge]]
*[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_tags Wikimedia Commons:Copyright tags]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Design Gang]]
[[Category:Graphic Design]]

Latest revision as of 20:21, 5 January 2014

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.


Pencil.png NOTE: The contents of this page are not set in stone, and are subject to change!

This page is a draft in active flux ...
Please leave suggestions on the talk page.

Pencil.png

This page covers licensing and copyright issues as they pertain to the One Laptop per Child project.

For those already familiar with open licenses, our advice is:

  • Are you writing code for an end-user application? Use the GPL.
  • Are you writing a code library? Use the LGPL or MIT license.
  • Are you creating a text or media work? Release your work under a CC-Attribution or CC-BY-SA license.
  • Are you creating a purely factual or reference work? Release your work into the public domain (e.g., with the CC-PD declaration).

For a succinct introduction to open licensing, see the Open Knowledge Foundation's Guide to open licensing.

For a list of open licenses and information on how to apply them, see their licenses page.

OLPC is a strong advocate for and practitioner of open licensing, as the project is designed around the idea of the free sharing of knowledge. Our goal is to empower children to share and build on what they learn in every way imaginable. There should be no barriers to children who wish to recreate and build on the materials, software, and tools they are given; everyone should be free to use, redistribute, and produce modified version of and works derived from these things. For more on OLPC's specific views on this, see the OLPC on open source software and OLPC on free knowledge sections.

License setting on the XO

The methods and metadata for setting a license for material created on an XO network are under discussion. A group @ Creative Commons (nod to Asheesh L.) has mostly ported their liblicense package to integrate neatly into Sugar. See Talk:Licensing#Setting your license for details.


Q and A on licensing contributed for the purposes of OLPC content

Contributing software

Q1. I would like to contribute pieces of software and libraries to OLPC, so that they can be used on XOs around the world. What should I do?

A1. We recommend licensing material under the MIT, LGPL, or GPL licenses. For more on OLPC's specific views on this, see the OLPC on open source software page and Talk:Licensing#Setting your license.

Contributing content

Q1. I would like to contribute pieces of my work to OLPC, in order to use them incorporated into the XOs and school servers, which are going to be distributed to children in the emerging world. What should I do?

A1. OLPC is always looking to expand its content repositories with new ideas on quality educational content that could be included on the XOs or the school servers.

For more information on the process of contributing content to OLPC, please see the sections of “How to contribute” and “Submitting Your Content to OLPC” available at: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributing_content#Submitting_Your_Content_to_OLPC.

Q2. What forms of work I could contribute to OLPC?

A2. We are particularly interested in materials that are produced specially for children and teachers; designed for ease of localization, customization, and other reuse; available in many languages; and available under a free content license. Materials can include the following:

  • Texts – stories and poems; textbooks, workbooks, how-tos and lab manuals;
  • Reference works – encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps and atlases;
  • Images – symbols and fonts, blueprints, sketches, photographs and art;
  • Multimedia content – animations, audio books, songs and audio recordings, videos;
  • Software – games, tools, scripts, simulations, self-assessments and interactive tools.

For more information, please review the section of Content Ideas available at: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Contributing_content#Content_Ideas

Copyright and OLPC

Q3. How does the international perspective of the content affect the licensing schemes, represented by OLPC?

A3. XOs are going to be deployed all over the world and in several jurisdictions. Each country has its own laws and regulations governing the distribution of content materials. Thus, there is a strong interest on behalf of OLPC to distribute educational content with proper attributions to its contributors, according to the licensing schemes, which OLPC represents, and to the rules and regulations of the countries, in which the XOs are delivered.

Q4. What can be considered as a copyrightable work?

A4. Copyright refers to a wide array of works, which includes poems; plays; theses; paintings; drawings; movies; musical compositions; photographs; software; and other literary and artistic works. It covers only the form or the manner in which ideas are manifested and not the idea that is incorporated by itself.

In addition, protection under copyright law is only provided to “original works of authorship.” However, the requirements of originality are generally low. Additionally, different countries impose different standards and tests of originality.

Q5. Which are some of the indicative categories of copyrightable works?

A5. The U.S. Copyright Act includes an illustrative list of the works, which can be protected by copyright laws.

This list includes:

  • Literary works; that is, works other than audiovisual works expressed in words, numbers, other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the note of the material objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, films, tapes, disks, cards, in which they are embodied. These works include computer databases and computer programs to the extent they incorporate authorship in the programmer’s expression of original ideas as distinguished from the ideas themselves.
  • Pictorial and graphic works; that is, two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic and applied art, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models and technical drawings;
  • Musical works and sound recordings; in particular, owners of a musical composition enjoy the full complement of rights, whereas sound recordings do not receive a traditional performance right (however, they now have a digital performance right). Musical works can be written on paper and pressed onto a phonorecord, recorded on audiotape, or otherwise fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
  • Motion pictures and audiovisual works; that is, series of related images which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of machines or devices, such as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment together with accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of material objects, such as films or tapes, in which the works are embodied.

Q6. What is defined as a joint, a collective and a derivative work? Why are these kinds of works important in our case?

A6. The creation and use of joint, derivative and collective works is especially important for OLPC, as it embodies the significance of collaboration, sharing and continuity in education.

A joint work is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contribution be merged into inseparable or interdependent part of a unitary whole.

A collective work, according to the Creative Commons licenses, which OLPC is implementing, means a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology or encyclopedia, in which the work in its entirety in unmodified form, along with one or more other contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. A work that constitutes a collective work will not be considered a derivative work (as defined below) for the purposes of a Creative Commons license.

A derivative work, according to the CC licenses, means a work based upon one or more pre-existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which the original work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.

Q7. What is OLPC’s position regarding the copyright and licensing protection of the works incorporated into the XOs and the school servers?

A6. OLPC strongly supports open licensing, as free content policy is pertinent to its mission to enable children’s access to knowledge without barriers by enabling them to share freely the materials and tools they are given.

Therefore, regarding materials, such as texts, reference works, multimedia content, or images, OLPC suggests to its contributors to make their works available to OLPC with a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution or Attribution – Share-alike licenses (CC 3.0 BY or CC 3.0 BY-SA).

Licensing appendix

Q7. What are the Creative Commons BY and BY-SA licenses?

A7. Citing the Creative Commons’ website:

  • a Creative Commons Attribution license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
  • a Creative Commons Attribution – Share-alike license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Creative Commons apply to works that are protected by copyright. They give you the ability to “dictate how others may exercise your rights on the work” – such as, for example, the right to copy, to make derivative works or adaptations or to distribute your work. For that reason, they come attached to your work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license.

Creative Commons licenses are all non-exclusive licenses. This means that you can permit licensees to use your work under a Creative Commons license and then enter into a separate and different non-exclusive license with someone else, even under different than the CC license terms.

Q8. What are not the Creative Commons BY and BY-SA licenses?

A8. Creative Commons licenses do not apply to things such as ideas, factual information or other things that are not protected by copyright. The case of non-protected by copyright works varies in different jurisdictions.

Furthermore, they do not give you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright – as, for example, fair use – nor they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas, as we described above.

More information about questions 7 and 8 and the use of Creative Commons licenses, please see http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ#What_things_should_I_think_about_before_I_apply_a_Creative_Commons_license_to_my_work.3F.

Q9. How do Creative Commons 3.0 BY and BY-SA licenses apply in the OLPC case?

A9. Consistent with the open source policy of OLPC and the mission to enable the most expansive use and sharing of knowledge worldwide, Creative Commons Attribution and Attribution – Share-alike licenses enhance the ability of OLPC to succeed in these goals by giving to both OLPC and children - the users of the XOs – the benefit to the greatest extent from the educational value of its content. Creative Commons licenses let the users copy and distribute the materials, as well as create upon them, by making translations, adaptations or other innovative uses of them.

Q10. How can you use the Creative Commons licenses in the OLPC case? What is the process you should meet?

A10. Before applying a Creative Commons 3.0 BY or BY-SA, first of all, please make sure that you have the authority to license the work.

This means that you should be the owner of the work. Ownership of copyrighted works is governed differently in each jurisdiction. Mainly, you should make sure, if you are the sole author of the work, that there are no agreements (i.e. as an employee, et cetera) posing restrictions on the way you can use your rights on the work.

On the other hand, if you combined pre-existing works (i.e. texts, photographs, paintings, sketches, poems, stories, etc.) in your work or you jointly produced the work with others, you need to make sure you have the express and explicit permission to apply a Creative Commons license to the end result.

In addition, you should particularly define what you are CC-licensing, in terms of the work itself, its format, as well as its elements.

More information regarding the use of CC licenses you can find available at: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Before_Licensing.

Q11. Where can I find forms that I could use in order to submit my works, certifying that I am licensing them to OLPC according to CC 3.0 BY or CC 3.0 BY-SA?

A11. Below you can find sample generic forms that you should submit to OLPC along with the submission of your content, which certify that you are licensing to OLPC your works for use, according to the purposes of OLPC and the Creative Commons 3.0 BY or BY-SA licenses:


Licenses

GPL

The GNU General Public Licence (GPL) is a is a widely-used free software license, originally written for the GNU project. Software licensed under the GPL is free enough to be part of the default software platform on the OLPC laptops.

For more information, please see the Wikipedia article about the GNU General Public License.

GNU Public license. One of the many licensing methods for distributing software. Use template {{GPL}} or {{CC-GNU-GPL}} for placing a 'GPL badge' on your page.

GFDL

The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project. It is the counterpart to the GNU General Public License that gives readers the same rights to copy, redistribute and modify a work and requires all copies and derivatives to be available under the same license.

The GFDL was designed for manuals, textbooks, other reference and instructional materials, and documentation which often accompanies GNU software. However, it can be used for any text-based work, regardless of subject matter. For example, Wikipedia uses the GFDL for all of its text.


LGPL

The LGPL is a software license related to the GPL, and useful in particular for software libraries.

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGPL


MIT

For text of MIT license see http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mit_license

PD

Use template {{PD}}.

Material released into or available through the public domain. This applies to material whose copyright has expired, and that whose authors have explicitly so released it. The latter type of material may retain moral rights in various jurisdictions.

There is also a CC-PD badge which is sometimes used to denote material that has been confirmed or affirmed as being in the public domain.

CC-BY

Use template {{CC-BY}}.

The Creative Commons Attribution license. The preferred OLPC license for factual and educational material.

CC-BY-SA

Use template {{CC-BY-SA}}.

The Creative Commons Share Alike license. Preserves attribution, and requires any derivative work to be made available under the same license; effectively preventing a derivative work from becoming rival.

CC-BY-NC

The Creative Commons Non-Commercial license. Preserves attribution, and prohibits the work from being used or redistributed commercially.

This is not one of our recommended licenses, because of incompatibility with the above CC licenses, but material under this license is made available through our school libraries.

See also

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