Hal Plotkin's Proposed Policy on Public Domain-Based Learning Materials Draft #1 March 2004 (see updated version)
Preamble:
"Public domain" is a legal phrase that describes intellectual works that are not owned by anyone, either because their copyrights have expired or because the owners of those works have voluntarily given up their rights to receive roylaties in connection with the use of those materials. The dawn of the Internet has made it far easier than ever to discover, archive, combine and re-purpose this material.
“Public Domain-Based Learning Materials” include materials derived from existing public domain resources. Examples include an introductory geometry textbook, a basic physics textbook, a chemistry textbook, and anthologies of great literature, philosophy, dramatic and artistic works. Public domain-based learning materials may or may not also contain other supporting materials, such as related tests, other learning assessment tools and study guides.
Policy Goals and Objectives:
1. The Board should establish a formal policy to advance the development of
public domain learning materials for use by our students and others who will
benefit from the availability of such materials.
2. The Board will direct the Chancellor to seek the creation of incentives and support for interested faculty and staff to organize and maintain existing public domain-based learning materials within their areas of expertise. The goal of this activity is to create or assemble public domain-based learning materials as substitutes of equal or better quality for costly textbooks currently used. The primary goal of this policy will be to create incentives for our faculty and staff to organize materials that are already in the public domain and turn them into practical educational learning materials suitable for use in community college courses as substitutes, whenever possible, for costly textbooks rather than to place more new "raw" materials into the public domain (which is a useful and welcome, but not essential activity).
3. The District will seek opportunities to derive revenue from the sale of certain versions of organized public domain materials. These might include, for example, offering organized public domain learning materials free for online use but selling or licensing the right to print those materials for a small charge through the sale or licensing of specially formatted, printer-ready files. Using the District's participatory governance process, the District will explore the creation of a revenue sharing arrangement with the involved faculty and staff that takes into account the District's role in creating an incentive for the production of such materials and in aiding in their distribution. One idea is to have the District's share of such revenues earmarked and placed into a fund that will directly benefit the staff and faculty.
4. Under no circumstances will faculty members be required to participate in public domain-related publishing activities nor will they lose any current rights they enjoy related to the publication of scholarly material.
5. Underscoring all this is the understanding that one way academic leaders in all disciplines will distinguish themselves in the future is by becoming known as the steward of the best set of public domain-based learning materials in their field. We must lead that revolution. Our goal is the creation of incentives and support so our faculty, staff and others we attract will participate as fully as possible in making available a new generation of lower cost, high-quality learning materials derived from existing public domain resources as substitutes for old-fashioned textbooks.
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