In the copyleft universe, copyright is seen as out of control. When millions people are deemed copyright criminals, and ordinary citizens are being sued for copyright infringement for peer sharing and downloading of music and videos, it is clear that “the copyright policy is a form of extremism” (Gaylor, 2008 ). Big business suffers from intolerance for openness, as it infringes on their ability to make money off the consumer, or as Gaylor (2008) asserts, “The primary goal [of corporations] is to continue with the business model that had made them rich.” The “balance between the rights of new technology to innovate while maintaining the right of authors to get paid” is an ongoing issue that will persist until policy-makers see how ludicrous many features of copyright policy are in modern times. On a personal level, both my brother in-law and a close friend have been given cease and desists orders for sharing and downloading video—but, this has not stopped these cynical criminals from continuing to file share.
According to the Creative Commons website, copyleft allows you to “share you creative wealth” while still protecting your copyright privileges. The creative commons license is less restrictive than copyright; allowing you to “refine” aspects of copyright, so that you chose how others are able to freely share and use your “creative wealth.” The copyleft movement recognizes the truism that drives creative culture, that “no one creates in a vacuum; everything comes from something else, it is a chain reaction” (Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture, Brazil). Educators have long realized that there is no reason to reinvent the wheel—education is “inherently a relationship of sharing and of generosity” (Wiley, 2012).
Where does copyright/left leave educators in B.C? With the new fair-use policy in Bill C-11’s educational provisions, there will be special exemptions given to broaden usage of publicly available resources and material that is used for educational purposes. With fair-use policies, educators will be able to use limited amounts of copyrighted material to help articulate the educational learning objectives. Unfortunately, fair-use policy is up to interpretation and subject to conditions set out by the educational institution. (Morrison, 2012). In terms of educational content creation, public domain resources with Creative Commons licensing are a viable option for educators. By exploring creative solutions and policies to address some of the challenges and barriers of use, technological accessibility may become less of an issue in our modern (technology enhanced) educational environment.