Read the article at http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/329

Background

In “About the Open Publication License,” David Wiley outlines the history of open content licensing beginning with the Open Content License (OCL), and followed by the Open Publication License (OPL). He explains the shortcomings of both the Open Content License and the Open Publication License and why they were eventually replaced by the more robust Creative Commons Licenses.

Key points

• The Open Content License was published on July 14, 1998.
• The improved Open Publication License was published on June 8, 1999, and resulted from collaboration between David Wiley, Eric Raymond, and others.
• The Creative Commons licenses were published in Dec 2002, and are now the licenses used for most open content licensing today.

Discussion Questions

1. What was the main reasoning for abandoning both the OCL and the OPL in favor of the CC?
2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Creative Commons licenses?

Additional Resources