Cory Doctorow's Hardback Version

Copyright can be very difficult for teachers to explain to students.  Students just want to use content and not worry about citations, using it fairly, and mashing it up to make new content.  Copyrighted works do not always allow this, and with online media, the regulations can be difficult to interpret and teach.  Cory Doctorow, one of the pioneers of using Creative Commons licenses wants to help.  He has released a collection of short stories under Creative Commons licenses.  That means you can download the book as a .pdf document and print it in your class.  Or you can download a free .ePub version for nooks.  Or you can download the free audiobook (1.4 GB, and it takes AHWILE).

Now you have all these versions of his stories.  What better way to begin talking about Copyright, Creative Commons, and publishing in the 21st Century.  Many authors now use on demand printers such as Lulu.com to allow readers to print the book when they buy it.  Another great thing to investigate in your class, and maybe even generate a class book.

Cory Doctorow is just one of the interesting authors out there who release content under the Creative Commons license.  You can find his books at http://craphound.com/