Learn more about Copyright
Unless otherwise stated, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
While some websites have their own version of an open license, the majority use Creative Commons. Creative Commons maintains a website where all their different licenses are explained. They also maintain a page with step-by-step instructions for how to choose a license.
Each Creative Commons license contains symbols that explain the various rights associated with the resource.
| Symbol | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Attribution (BY) |
Attribution (BY) requires users to give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests that the author endorses them and their use. |
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Share-Alike (SA) |
People who want to adapt and then publish their adaptation must publish it with the exact same license that the author chose. This limitation ensures that the work stays in the open all the way down the line. |
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Non-Commercial (NC) |
People can’t use the resource for a money-making endeavor. They are allowed to recover costs (e.g. charging for print services) but cannot make a profit. |
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No Derivatives (ND) |
People can create modified works for their own personal use, but if they want to share or publish modified works they must get permission. |
Depending on which elements an author chooses, an OER can be "more" or "less" open.
Modified by Amanda Grey from Creative commons license spectrum by Shaddim, licensed under CC BY 4.0
The 4 license elements can be combined together in different ways according to how the author wants their work to be used, creating a set of 6 full Creative Commons licenses.
Each Creative Commons license contains symbols that explain the various rights associated with the resource.
| License | Description | |
|---|---|---|
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Attribution CC-BY |
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. |
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Attribution CC-BY-SA |
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under identical terms (all new works based on it will carry the same license). This is the license used by Wikipedia and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects. |
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Attribution CC-BY-NC |
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge the author and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms. |
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Attribution CC-BY-ND |
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the author. |
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Attribution CC-BY-NC-SA |
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. |
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Attribution CC-BY-NC-ND |
This license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses, only allowing others to download the work and share it with others as long as they credit the author, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. |
While Creative Commons are the most common open licenses used in open education work, there are several other open licenses that you may find during your search for materials to use. They are letting you use their work, but will have their own set of requirements. Be sure to read the terms and conditions page to make sure you are following the rules for use.
Examples of other Open Licenses:
