With copy rights becoming such a problem, I thing institutions should develop the bulk of the course material but leave room for instructors to add copy right approved or public domain information.
This training is so good! I have been worked for for-profit schools most of my career. I know I certainly made some mistakes back in the beginning. I am in a position now to draft our copyright policy and train our facult (F2F and online) and course developers on how to appropriately use materials, how to seek permissions to use copyrighted and licensed materials, etc.
One area I don't feel there is enough clarity, is on the different types of creative commons licenses. The "non-commercial" is tricky. I don't think for-profit educational institutions should fall under commercial, so I am wondering if you have some guidance?
I must admit that this has made me hesitant in using any materials. I can see why some educators choose to use materials from the texts that were specifcally procured for the class. I had always thought graphs, pictures, and even cute cartoons added spice to on line lectures, but now I ask....at what cost? I'm too risk averse to continue using these items, but I'm glad that I'm aware of the risk now.
