16.1: Introduction

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Learning outcomes

Understand what open licence software is about and start looking for an appropriate licence for software you are developing;
Appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of using open licence software;
Understand how open licensing for non-software educational material works;
Appreciate the access to knowledge movement and what it aims to achieve.

An open licence, as used in this chapter, is a neutral expression for a licence granted by someone who holds copyright in material allowing anyone to use the material subject to the conditions in the licence but without having to pay a royalty or licence fee.

There are many different open licences, some for computer software and some for other forms of material. Each has its own terms, conditions and vocabulary. This chapter is an introduction to open licence language and to the open licences that are important for authors and educators. It is not legal advice. Individuals or institutions thinking of committing themselves to open licensing should get professional legal advice about the implications of the licences they are considering using.

Supporters of the different licences do not always agree with one another. There are even extremists who, disliking the business practices of some commercial software suppliers and publishing houses, want to use open licences to do away with restrictions on using copyright material. Despite the understandable wish of some open licence supporters to reform copyright law, open licences are legal tools that use the existing copyright law. They rely, in particular, on the exclusive right copyright law gives a copyright holder to licence material with an open licence or any other form of licence.

The chapter starts by looking at software open licences. Software developers working on open licence software will need a more detailed explanation of the different open licences than they will find in this chapter. But even authors and educators with no pretensions to ICT expertise depend on operating systems, word processors, communication packages and online learning software. This part of the chapter aims at providing such users with an introduction to open licence software and its advantages and disadvantages.

Understanding software open licences is also a good introduction to the open licences that apply to other materials and, in particular to Open Educational Resources (OERs). The second part of the chapter looks at these open licences and, in particular, at the Creative Commons licences. The chapter ends by looking briefly at the Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement that aims at making all forms of information more freely available.