Free Resources Enable Creativity and Research

Freely licensed resources can be used without contacting and negotiating with the copyright holder. That way, creators can focus on doing their work, using and building on the resources according to the terms of use spelled out in standard licenses.

For instance:

• A language instructor can incorporate freely licensed text and images into lessons that can also be distributed freely.
• A researcher can provide an analysis of an existing text together with the text. Other researchers can build on that, adding new analyses and data sets.
• A researcher can analyze the work of another researcher in new ways, using the same datasets and texts.
• A researcher can confirm the results of another researcher by running the same test on the same data, noting any discrepancies.
• An existing text can be enhanced with morphology, syntax trees, annotations, and illustrations.
• A translator can freely translate a work into new languages (this is not allowed for texts that are not freely licensed).
• A translation association can freely translate a commentary or translator’s notes into another language.

Even when copyright holders are willing to share their work, negotiating licenses and working with lawyers can consume significant time and effort. With freely licensed resources, creators can focus on doing their work, using standard licenses that spell out the terms so that a resource can be used without contacting and negotiating with the copyright holder.