Introduction
Goal
Welcome to the course on digital rights. We would like to help you orient in the complex world of intellectual property rights. Did you know that:
- The copyright notice is not neccessary to protect your creative work?
- Publishing pictures to which you do not own copyright or licence on your Facebook wall can be an infringement of law?
- The Walt
Disney company still holds copyright of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse even
though it was created in 1928.
This course should help you understand that that the digital world is no different from the real world. There are rules, rights and manners that should be respected. After completing this course you will be able to:
- use the work of others legally and ethically
- recognize different types of Creative Commons licences and use them in practice
- search usefull materials and tools suitable for your educational activities
- explain the difference between various types of software licences
How to navigate in this course?
You can learn some theory in the Background knowledge section. The Experience section will offer some practical information. You can explore tools, complete tasks, download worksheets for your group, and enhance your practical skills. In the Reflection section, you can get even deeper into the topic. You will find resources, useful links and documents there. You can also share your experience and questions with others.Requirements and expectations
The estimated time to complete this course is 2 hours. However, some tasks and further reading may require an additional time. You can assess your new skills in the final quiz. Most importantly, be aware that the intellectual property rights are a very complex and broad topic. You are not expected to become an expert.Key words: intellectual property rights, copyright, creative commons, human rights, learning materials