Using Creative Commons to Make Stuff

I went searching online for teaching-related content that you would want to hear--and I fell into a rabbit hole of ideas about copyright, the public domain, and Creative Commons. On this episode, you'll hear a brief introduction to copyright in the U.S.; a narrative of me dealing with complicated interfaces and Creative Commons licenses on Soundcloud, Archive.org, Jamendo, Freesound, and YouTube; and a few resources to help you discuss this tricky stuff in your composition classes.

How does copyright law affect the stuff I make--and that my students make?
Plugs, Play, Pedagogy

Episode 3: Using Creative Commons to Make Stuff

Produced and recorded by Kyle Stedman ([email protected]; @kstedman), assistant professor of English at Rockford University, in cooperation with KairosCast and Writing Commons.

Transcript is available here.

My original plan was to find cool stuff for you to listen to that other people had posted--a curated collection of content from all my favorite sites.

But as I dug into the advance searches of these sites and explored the various flavors of Creative Commons licenses, I knew that that was my show topic: navigating the tricky waters of copyright when you want to reuse content in something new of your own (like a podcast, but not necessarily a podcast). Here's how I got there:

Part 1: An Easy Introduction to Copyright

In which I describe how I introduce the public domain, copyright, and Creative Commons to my students--and thusly explain it to you, dear listener. In this section, you'll also hear about:

"Public Domain: Frequently Asked Questions" from teachingcopyright.org
The fair use checklist from the Columbia University Libraries Copyright Advisory Office
Details of the Creative Commons licenses

Part 2: Me Searching for Stuff

In which I describe the path I took while trying to find online content related to teaching writing and rhetoric that I could legally curate and use in my podcast. Here, you'll hear:

Bad Rhetoric, "Phoenix- Bad Rhetoric"
365DaysofSound, "25.01.2011 - David Cameron and his never-ending rhetoric"
UKarts_sciences, "Race, Rhetoric, and Technology in the Digital Age: Adam J. Banks"; "Communication and Rhetoric in a Multi-Modal World: Craig Crowder"; "Mapping The Abstract: Jenny Rice"
umichSweetland, "Transfer & Writing - Rebecca Nowacek"
trauman, "Incorporating an Audio Assignment into your Classroom: The PSA"
JasonElrod, "Writing with Pen.aif"
D. Marshall, "Cynthia Selfe on multimodality and instructors"
UTexas SPURS, "SPURS - A Deeper Look at Kairos"
Justin Hodgson, "RM100 Episode 1"

I mention a few other resources that I didn't link to, but instead of bulking up this space with them, you can just check the transcript for links.

Part 3: Resources

In which I recommend the following resources:

Search.creativecommongs.org for sites that have CC built into their DNA
An awesome copyright-related comic: Keith Aoki, James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins, Tales from the Public Domain: Bound by Law?
Traci Gardner (tengrrl), "Updating the Copyright Puzzle"
Oh no! I said that DMAC had a list of Copyright and Legal Resources--and they used to. But now it's gone. It used to live here, but archive.org doesn't even have a copy. Sorry!
I suggested you discuss real court cases that revolve around fair use with your students. For examples, reference the Stanford University Libraries “Summaries of Fair Use Cases,” Laura Gamse’s “Fair Use Victories: Five Court Cases Upholding Your Right to Sample and Remix Copyrighted Works,” or Martine Courant Rife’s chapter “Ideas Toward a Fair Use Heuristic: Visual Rhetoric and Composition” (summarized on this blog post).
To analyze them, you can use the fair use checklist at the website of the Copyright Advisory Office of Columbia University Libraries.
I also mentioned the Top Intellectual Property Developments of the Year, edited by Clancy Ratliff and sponsored by the CCCC Intellectual Property Committee

End Matter

My theme music is by Cactus May at Ohio University; check out his work at http://heycactus.weebly.com.

You also heard “Heart of a Beginner” by Marc 101 Music on Soundcloud, “It’s Working” by Nonsense Wind on Jamendo, and “Something Borrowed (Rhetoric)” by Steve Lawson and Daniel Berkman, hosted on the account of solobasssteve on Soundcloud. All are licensed by Creative Commons.

And because I love it so, so much, you also heard the show close out (as always) with Disco Dan's "Blue Lightning."