Monday, February 22, 2010

Hey Kathy Schrock, How About Share and Share Alike?

Recently a site linked to my Student Blog Rubric.  I am always pleased when someone finds something of value on this blog.  In fact, one of the greatest benefits of blogging is the sharing of ideas and opinions among bloggers. All items on this blog, The Reading Workshop are licensed through Creative Commons.  This allows anyone to use anything of value with attribution.

I was  shocked by Discovery Education and the fact of how they limit use. I can't help but wonder how they can post a link to my site and so many others, for all to use, but at the bottom of their site they state:

©1995-2010 Kathleen Schrock. All rights reserved.

And the terms of use state:
V. USE OF MATERIALS
Except your own User Submissions, the materials available to you through Discovery Education Media Share are the property of Discovery or its licensors, or of other users of Discovery Education Media Share, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through Discovery Education Media Share. But you may not otherwise reproduce any of the materials without the prior written consent of the owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on Discovery Education Media Share in any form...

Probably the easiest thing for them to do is just blow me away, never link again, and pretend I don't exist.  However, the just thing to do would be to share and share alike.

So there is no misunderstanding, please feel free to use anything you find of value on this site.  I would appreciate attribution.  Please see the link below to answer any questions.

This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

14 comments:

Kathy Schrock said...

Dear Mr. McGuire, I am not sure that the licensing terms you quoted were the ones that pertain to my site on Discovery, although I do not know for sure. I would assume the Media Share might be the items that Discovery produces or pays to have produced-- more of the content-rich stuff.

My list of links are intellectual property, based on years of evaluating items to include. Obviously I am sharing the items by linking to them and anyone is free to link to my pages without asking permission!.However, you cannot copy my lists of links and re-publish them, sorry. They are not Creative Commons licensed.

If you would like me to remove the link to your rubric, let me know. I always honor the wishes of those I link to, and, if they do not want to be be linked for any reason (bandwidth draw, etc.) I understand.

You can find my email address on the Web if you want to let me know about removing the link.

Mr. McGuire said...

However, you cannot copy my lists of links and re-publish them, sorry. They are not Creative Commons licensed.

This does not even make sense. Your name has become known throughout education because of online resources, you share everyone else's, but not your own.

Anonymous said...

I only link to the info (like I did with yours) and put my own description. I do not cut-and-paste lists of links with or without descriptions by the author.

I have 26 evaluation criteria I apply before I add a site to the Schrockguide. People trust that I am offering items that are useful. That is why I consider my lists my intellectual property.

I have freely shared my expertise for 15 years and help anyone who asks for help. I just do not want my work to show up anywhere else except my sites. Anyone can link to the lists, and, since I check all 2500 links by hand each month, it is in their best interest to do so, since the links stay good or replaced with others that are similar.

I am dismayed that you do not think that I share-- the site is free, the links are annotated, I put up slideshows and links to resources, etc. I share everything, but do not allow it to be re-posted. Two different things...

Noreen Strehlow said...

Apparently you have no idea that most of the educational world has relied on Kathy Schrock from almost day one of the internet. She has linked lesson plans and a vast array of other resources for teachers as long as I have had an internet connection and we are talking 12 baud modems here. Kathy Schrock has been and will always be the goto person for the latest in technology for education. (Noreen Strehlow)

Michael said...

@kathyschrock I might be missing something but I tend to agree with Mr. McGuire's point. For education, students, open share seems moral. And, if the Discovery site is freely linking to resources all over the web, they should allow the same. What is the reason for the links not being Creative Commons licensed?
Michael
(@tiomikel on twitter)

Unknown said...

Linking to content is not the same as copying content. Linking is sharing, copying copyrighted content is plagiarism unless you ask first. Fair Use is within the context of learning or critique not just sharing.

Mr. McGuire said...

PESD,

No, in fact, just the opposite it true. I am very much aware of her contribution. That is why I don't understand her position. She has shared information and ideas from all over. That is why I think it is imperative that she share her work, just like she shares the work of others.

Mr. McGuire said...

I just do not want my work to show up anywhere else except my sites.

Kathy, this is where I have the issue. Your site is totally dependent on the work of others, you recommend their work, but you don't want others to use your work. This just seems like such a contradiction.

I could understand if you wanted users to link back to your site with use, but to prohibit using your work, while sharing the work of others just does not make sense to me.

Teach42 said...

Seems to me that there's two discussions going on. One with respect to Kathy's directories, which obviously she is speaking to.

The other thing mentioned is the terms of use with respect to MediaShare. For those that don't know, Discovery Education MediaShare is a media management server that individuals can upload to in order to share with other schools, districts or the world if they so desire.

The paragraph you quoted is actually there to protect the individuals who choose to share through DEMS! Essentially, what we're saying is that we can't give you the rights to share those things beyond linking to them... because they aren't our rights to give! Each individual that shares content through DEMS is the owner of their own contribution. Consequently, they are the ones that can dictate their own distribution rights, as you have down yourself within this post.

So just to clarify, we aren't saying that people don't have the rights to re-use and re-distribute the content that is shared within DE MediaShare... We're saying that those decisions are entirely up to the content creators and owners.

Hope that makes sense. As the online community manager for our teacher network, I'm incredibly grateful to the educators that choose to share the fruits of their labor with other members of the education community through our tools, and I want to make sure that they get the credit they deserve for them. So if that isn't coming across correctly, I'd love to chat with you more about it to make sure that is rectified.

Steve
steve_dembo@discovery.com

Mr. McGuire said...

Steve,

Thank you for the comment and clarification. I am also grateful to those that share. That makes us all better.

Anonymous said...

I think you misunderstood. Anyone is free to link back to my work. I am rabid about making sure links work, are still good, and adding info. (Comes from my left-brained side!)

If someone copies and pastes my lists of links, even with attribution, and the links go bad because THEY are not rabid about upkeeping links, it actually makes it look like I am the one that is at fault.

I do not use the work of others...I link to it...and add information and ideas that I have. I have never copy and pasted any other list of links into the Schrockguide.

Anyone can link to my stuff, and, as I said before, since my links are updated and added to frequently, it is in everyone's best interest to have them live in one place, if they like my work.

I truly believe, as everyone knows, that intellectual property protection is important to make sure people still continue to create and develop intellectual property. I am a firm believer in copyright and fair use, and believe any creator of information has the right to not allow copying, cut-and-pasting, re-posting, videoing, etc. without criticism.

It is well-known that I will not be live-streamed or videoed when I present. I feel that my obligation, when presenting, is to the audience in front of me, and I want to be as open and honest as possible with them without sound bites being distributed out of context.

Sorry if you disagree, but I am rather passionate about IP.


Kathy

Mr. McGuire said...

Kathy,

Thank you for taking the time to explain your position. As much as you believe in the right to Intellectual Property, what you have is work based on what is someone else's IP.

Intellectual Property--Property that derives from the work of an individual's mind or intellect.

The IP belongs to those that created the materials you link to, and if they share it through a Creative Commons license, it should be shared in return.

If you tell someone, "read these books, they are great," you didn't write the books, you don't get royalties for sales, and you surely don't get credit for them.

I appreciate all you have done to help teachers, but your view on this is dated. Views on IP have clearly changed in the last few years. I hope you will reconsider your position and share and share alike.

Kathy Schrock said...

I do not take any one else's intellectual property...I just lead educators to things, that in my opinion, are useful. The creator I link to sets the rights for their own material.

My hard work (for 2 hours each day since 1995, by the way) is culling through the stuff on the Internet to lead teachers to items that, in my areas of expertise, are useful to support teaching and learning, and, in addition, suggesting ways they can be used to support teaching and learning. There is no reason I have to share anything via Creative Commons. The links are there for everyone to use as they see fit.

You will not be changing my mind on the right of the creator to protect their own hard work and intellectual property, however, and that view is not "dead", by a long shot.

I will be removing the link to your rubric since you feel so strongly that I am not doing things right by "not sharing" and "taking credit".

I am glad you allow users to take your items and edit them to meet their needs, but everyone has the right to do what they believe in.


Kathy

Mr. McGuire said...

Kathy,

Thank you for all you do to help educators. I agree that you have every right to protect your content.

Just for a second though, please think about the severity of the blow to education if everyone took your stance. If teachers were not allowed to copy items to use with their students, or no one published and freely shared ideas and materials with their peers, this would be a crippling blow to the education of students that we are supposed to care about first and foremost.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many of the sites you link freely share content. And would you link to a site if you knew they wouldn't share?

Regarding the link to the blog rubric, hack away if you think that is the right thing to do. Thanks for those that you have sent this way. I hope they benefited from the link.