Purpose
- OER works include an open license, such as a Creative Commons license, of which there are six types.
- These licenses tell others how the work may be used, etc.
- The Creative Commons organization itself doesn't apply the licenses to works; rather, a creator (copyright holder) chooses one to apply to their own work and adds the appropriate license logo and license webpage.
Types of Licenses
The six Creative Commons licenses allow for differing levels of openness. Note that CC license logos contain symbols and that the licenses are also denoted by abbreviations
- CC symbol in a circle or CC: stands for Creative Commons
- Person symbol in a circle or BY: means attribution is required
- Dollar symbol crossed out in a circle or NC: refers to non-commercial usage
- Replay symbol in a circle or SA: share alike, which means that if you build on the material, you must apply the same license to your work
- Equal sign in a circle or ND: no derivatives are allowed
CC BY
- The Attribution or CC license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed material.
CC BY-SA
- The Attribution-ShareAlike or CC BY SA license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
CC BY-ND
- The Attribution-NoDerivatives or CC BY ND license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you. This license is not an OER because it doesn't allow for revising (adapting or modifying). Remember, the 5Rs need to be present for OER status.
CC BY-NC
- The Attribution-NonCommercial or CC BY NC license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
CC BY NC-SA
CC BY NC-ND
- The Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives or CC BY NC ND license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. This license is also not an OER; remember, the 5Rs need to be present for OER status.
Attributions can get complicated when you are creating your own text from multiple, existing OER. Not all licenses are compatible.
