Creative Commons in Ministry, an overview

Submitted by Tim Jore on Thu, 2009-12-17 12:02

The rationale for releasing discipleship materials under a Creative Commons license is illustrated in this concept map (download the PDF concept overview document):

These are the propositions:

  • Discipleship ministry requires content (e.g. the Bible, teaching material, etc.).
  • Content is only effective if there is understanding.
  • Understanding requires translation & adaptation of content.
  • Content is limited by copyright restrictions.
  • Copyright restrictions prevent legal translation & adaptation of content.
  • Copyright restrictions can be legally relaxed by Creative Commons licenses.
  • Creative Commons licenses permit legal translation & adaptation of content.
  • Creative Commons licenses do not prevent corrupt derivative works.
  • Copyright restrictions also do not prevent corrupt derivative works (see this FAQ entry for more information).