Free Works Education and future: Mario Pena at TEDxPlazaCibeles
Open content licensing, rather than traditional copyright, represents a shift to a system that grants pre-existing user permissions to foster creativity in education. The speaker argues that the current legal system creates unnecessary fear and scarcity, advocating for methods that promote collective creation and shared knowledge. The ultimate goal is to transition education and creation from a model of protection to one centered on "Innovation, creation, sharing and wealth." ## Speakers & Context - Mario P: Presenter who has been involved in copyright issues since after 2003, using Creative Commons licenses for his own work. - Context: Addressing the relationship between open content, education, and the future. - Speaker's Acknowledgment: Spends **30%** of the presentation searching for images and **20%** crediting them properly. ## Theses & Positions - Open content (or open works) systems are a "hack of the copyright system," granting user rights that pre-empt the need for requesting specific permissions. - The core problem with copyright is that it generates **fear**; the main issue is the contrast between two visions: the scarcity model of the past versus the abundance model of the digital present. - True scarcity is no longer just about the *content* itself, but about *how* the content can be created and shared. - Education must embrace open content to better prepare for the future, where "everybody becomes a learner" and "everybody becomes a teacher." - The Internet is not merely virtual; it is "something that is part of life," reflecting a profound interconnection between the analog and digital world. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Open Works / Open Content:** Content under licenses that already grant rights to the user, eliminating the need to constantly seek specific permissions. - **Copyleft:** A specific type of open license (e.g., GPL for software) where the work created out of the licensed content *must* be shared under a similar open license, making these licenses "viral." - **Viral Licenses:** Licenses ensuring that derivative works retain the same freedoms of the original open content. - **Copyright System:** A set of laws granting exclusive rights to a creator, requiring permission for use by anyone who is not the author. - **Open Content (General Definition):** Content that grants users some form of inherent permission to use, modify, or distribute, though restrictions vary. - **Public Domain:** Content available for learning from the present. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Hacking Copyright:** Creating open licenses like Creative Commons to preemptively grant rights, bypassing the need for constant permission requests. - **Creation Cycle (Open):** Creating content $\rightarrow$ Sharing it $\rightarrow$ Having others modify it $\rightarrow$ Creating new content from it, all under a shared open license structure. - **Educational Model Shift:** Moving education away from reliance on full copyright (which can be a "trap") toward using openly shared, remixable content. - **Skill Development:** The process of creation, editing, and funding with open content teaches critical skills for modern life, including the "process of crediting correctly." ## Timeline & Sequence - **Post-2003:** Speaker began using Creative Commons licenses for his own works. - **Past Technology:** Black and white TV with two channels; relying on paper books and vinyl discs for content access, creating a sense of *scarcity of getting* content. - **Digital Natives (Late 20th/21st Century):** Born with digital tools (like the iPad), these generations do not think about scarcity and require constant sharing of content, often for free. - **Copyright Law Time Limit:** Full copyright content requires waiting until **70 years plus one** after the creator dies before public domain status. ## Named Entities - **Creative Commons:** System of licenses used by the speaker. - **GPL:** Example license used for software under the copyleft framework. - **Sherik:** Entity associated with Creative Commons documentation (mentioned in relation to licenses). ## Numbers & Data - Year of starting CC use: **After 2003**. - Legal requirement for full copyright expiry: **70 years plus one** after the Creator died. ## Examples & Cases - **Google Alert Experiment:** Informally surveyed news mentioning copyright, finding common surrounding words such as *lawsuit*, *three strikes*, *infringement*, and *illegal*. - **Contrast of Scarcity:** The historical scarcity of *access* (e.g., buying books, hearing music) vs. the modern scarcity of *creating/sharing* content. - **Digital Native Experience:** A six-year-old using an iPad, demonstrating inherent access to creation tools. - **Artistic Example:** A picture collage created using different contents, illustrating the combination of open materials to create a new message. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Google Account Alert:** Tool used to track news related to copyright. - **iPad:** Device used by digital natives for content creation. - **Internet:** The platform where content is shared, characterized as being "part of life." ## References Cited - **Chinese Proverb:** *"Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand."* ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Open Content vs. Full Copyright:** Open content offers immediate usability and flexibility; full copyright offers protection but imposes long delays and restricts modification. - **Physical vs. Digital:** The transition from analog mediums (paper books, vinyl discs) to digital ones, changing the nature of content ownership. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker admits the discussion of copyleft is not a formal legal discussion. - He notes that he did not use a full copyright example in his presentation because it was legally difficult without being in the UN (where "fair use" might apply). - Some open content licenses carry restrictions, meaning not all open content is truly "viral." ## Methodology - Informal survey tracking news articles surrounding the term "copyright." - Comparative analysis of historical content scarcity versus digital content abundance. - Demonstration of content remixing (collage) to illustrate creation over mere possession. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - Education must adopt open content models because the future is decentralized; the schoolroom barriers are already broken. - Adopting open content will lead to a future built on "Innovation, creation, sharing and wealth" (defined broadly, not just money). - The most effective way to learn is through involvement, echoing the Chinese proverb. ## Implications & Consequences - Failure to adopt open systems means remaining trapped by copyright law, which demands requests for permission everywhere. - The world is changing technologically, meaning the roles of teachers and students will shift; the future will be built by the kids through shared, uploaded, and downloaded content. - The analogy suggests that if the physical world changes, the digital world must reflect it in both directions. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I'm going to explain a little bit about what is the relationship and my dream and my vision of how open contents can be used in education."* - *"Instead is a hack of the copyright system."* - *"A copy life content is that that content that you can use you can sell you can distribute you can can modify as long as whatever you made out of that content is also shared with a similar license."* - *"The main issue instead is the contrast between two visions that we have right now."* - *"The scarcity is not only on the contents that you get but the way I can create those contents and show them and give them to society sell them whatever."* - *"The kids are born digital they are born with a keyboard in front of their hands."* - *"The scarcity here is not about the copy fact of contents instead is how do we create new quality stuff that we can use."* - *"Education is also about information it's about content that needs to be shared that needs to be reused needs also to be modified."* - *"The Chinese proverb tell me and I will forget show me and I I will remember involve me and I will understand is now truer than ever."* - *"It's all about Reflections."*