For example, if you write a screenplay, novel, or even a blog post, you've just

created something new. Once you put that creation out into the world and allow the
public to access it, copyright law kicks in to help make sure that someone else
can't steal a part of (or all of) your creation.
Many of the texts we rely on in our on-campus classrooms—from textbooks to
literature to scholarly articles, to say nothing of images, films, or music—are
currently under copyright. So the question then becomes: What does this mean for
teaching on the Coursera?

And, again, in short it means a lot of work, either replacing texts with free and
widely accessible alternatives or negotiating (and paying for!) licensing
permissions for use online.

It bears repeating: This is a time-consuming process, especially as ownership of

copyrighted material is sometimes difficult (if not virtually impossible) to trace.
But, additionally, we must also keep in mind the structural challenges of
negotiating copyright in massive open online environments: current licensing
structures for copyright are ill-equipped at best to cover the kinds of massive
open use that MOOCs require.

Clear priorities are thus in order about which texts are absolutely essential for
use in the course, and which can be replaced. And, in turn, this work of redesign
and revision for teaching in massive open online settings requires a good deal of
flexibility and creativity across the university—on the part of instructors,
designers, experts in copyright, librarians, legal counsel, and administrators—to
define the parameters of acceptable risk and available resources.
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