Open content or OpenContent is a neologism coined by David Wiley in 1998[1] which describes a creative work that others can copy or modify. The term evokes open source, which is a related concept in software.[2]
When the term OpenContent was first used by Wiley, it described works licensed under the Open Content License (a copyleft licence) and perhaps other works licensed under similar terms.[2] It has since come to describe a broader class of content without conventional copyright restrictions. The openness of content can be assessed under the '4Rs Framework' based on the extent to which it can be reused, revised, remixed and redistributed by members of the public without violating copyright law.[3] 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,[4] open content licences rely on a copyright holder's power to license their work.
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The OpenContent website once defined OpenContent as 'freely available for modification, use and redistribution under a license similar to those used by the Open Source / Free Software community',[3] that is to say, a libre licence which allows commercial adaptation of the work as well as its distribution. It is unclear if OpenContent was used to exclusively describe content licensed under the Open Content Licence (OPL) or if OPL content was a subset of OpenContent.
The term since shifted in meaning, and the OpenContent website now describes openness as a 'continuous construct'.[3] The more copyright permissions are granted to the general public, the more open the content is. The threshold for open content is simply that the work 'is licensed in a manner that provides users with the right to make more kinds of uses than those normally permitted under the law - at no cost to the user.'[3]
The 4Rs are put forward on the OpenContent website as a framework for assessing the extent to which content is open:
- Reuse - the right to reuse the content in its unaltered / verbatim form (e.g., make a backup copy of the content)
- Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
- Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other content to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
- Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)[3]
As with the terms "open source" and "free software", some open content materials can also be described as "free content". However, free content has preserved the requirement (present in both open source and free software) that licences allow commercial use and adaptation. For similar reasons, the Free Software Foundation describes the Open Content License as a non-free documentation licence.[8]
"Open access" refers to toll-free or gratis access to content, consisting mainly of published peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles. Some open access works are also licensed for reuse and redistribution, which would qualify them as open content.
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