Open licenses

Open content is a neologism coined by David Wiley in 1998 which describes a creative work that others can copy or modify. The term evokes the related concept of open source software.

Originally, the Open content concept and term was evangelized via the Open Content Project by David A. Wiley in 1998, and described works licensed under the Open Content License (a non-free share-alike license, see 'Free content' below) and other works licensed under similar terms.

It has since come to describe a broader class of content without conventional copyright restrictions. The openness of content can be assessed under the '5Rs Framework' based on the extent to which it can be reused, revised, remixed and redistributed by members of the public without violating copyright law. Unlike open source and free content, there is no clear threshold that a work must reach to qualify as 'open content'.

Although open content has been described as a counterbalance to copyright, open content licenses rely on a copyright holder's power to license their work, similarly as copyleft which also utilizes copyright for such a purpose.

In 2003 Wiley announced that the Open Content Project has been succeeded by Creative Commons and their licenses, where he joined as "Director of Educational Licenses".

In 2006 the Creative Commons' successor project was the Definition of Free Cultural Works for free content, put forth by Erik Möller,Richard Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, Benjamin Mako Hill, Angela Beesley, and others. The Definition of Free Cultural Works is used by the . In 2008, the Attribution and Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons licenses were marked as "Approved for Free Cultural Works" among other licenses.

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