[GOAL] Re: Hybrid Open Access

[Andrew A. Adams]

Graham,

There is still disagreement as to the exact scope of CC-NC license. For 
example, a University which uses material in a MOOC for which it does not 
charge any fees isclearly NC. However, what about if they offer certification 
of completion for a fee (as some do). Does the profit/not-for-profit status 
of the institution (or the platform) make a difference? There is clear 
precedent in tax law, for example, of treating some activities of non-profit 
organisations as commercial activity (though in the US for 501(c)(3) 
organisations this is usually only applied to activities outside their core 
purpose). The claim that other scholars can use CC-NC licensed papers without 
inpinging on the license is not clear to me (my LLM dissertation was on 
copyright law,to demonstrate that I have some expertise in the area), 
particularly as it can include students paying fees, either for their course 
in general or even for a specific short course, plus academics engage in 
consultancy work as well, for which they may use academic papers.

The functional equivalent in computer software, licensing of e.g. compilers 
for educational use only - a common arrangement with universities - is 
clearly interpreted as meaning that students who use thecompiler to develop a 
project must purchase a commercial license for the compiler if they wish to 
distribute the resulting binary outside the requirements for their course.



-- 
Professor Andrew A Adams                      aaa at meiji.ac.jp
Professor at Graduate School of Business Administration,  and
Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Information Ethics
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan       http://www.a-cubed.info/