Open educational resources in the digital economy: Legal regulatory framework for free software license

Abstract

Relevance of the problem under examination is subjected to the active development of the digital economy and introduction of information technologies into the educational environment, formation of the open educational resources, which can be used only in compliance with the intellectual rights of authors and copyright holders of the works. The purpose of this article is to inquire into the free licenses used in the open educational resources: open licenses and Creative Commons licenses in Russia. The key method of research is a particular-scientific formal legal method, rendering it possible to arrive at the concept of the open educational resources, to determine the major characteristics of the open licenses and Creative Commons licenses. Following the research, it is concluded that the open license mechanism is the most convenient for arranging and distributing content of the open educational resource in the digital economy. The research has shown that the modern legal structure of the open license as recorded in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation makes it possible to integrate the Creative Commons license used worldwide into practical activities to form the open educational resources in the Russian Federation. The Creative Commons licenses can be used in the modern law enforcement activity without significant amendments into the Russian law. The article’s materials are of practical value for professionals and scholars concerned with the intellectual property protection, as well as for those implementing and using the open educational resources.