Copyright law protects original literary and artistic works. It establishes a term of use and grants exclusive (mainly economic) rights limiting how an original creation can be copied, performed, communicated, adapted, or translated. Copyright laws vary by nation.
Copyright law protects original works that are:
These works are protected from the moment they are in a fixed format regardless of whether they contain a copyright notice or copyright has been registered.
At the heart of each open educational resource (OER) is the way in which the resource is licensed. When an OER is under copyright protections (i.e., not within the public domain) the resource must be licensed so that it can be used, modified, adapted, and shared. Most commonly, OER are licensed using the suite of Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons (CC) licenses were developed in 2002 to give creators a free and standard way to articulate the copyright permissions they allow for their works. CC licenses work within standard copyright law and make it clearer to a work's audience how the work can be used. CC licenses are made up of elements that describe what can be done with the licensed work.
The attribution symbol, often shortened to BY. This element is part of every CC license and requires that the creator be given credit for their original work.
The non-commercial symbol, often shortened to NC. When this element is part of a CC license, the work cannot be used for commercial or monetary gain.
The share alike symbol, often shortened to SA. When this element is part of a CC license, any adaptations of the work must use the same or a compatible license.
The no derivatives symbol, often shortened to ND. When this element is part of a CC license, no adaptations of the original work can be shared (although personal adaptations can be created). Any work with a ND license cannot be considered an OER.
There are six Creative Commons licenses, all of which use the four elements described above. CC licenses can't restrict the use of works more than a typical copyright license does, meaning CC licensed works have the same fair use exceptions as works under regular copyright. As a creator, you can choose which license to use that best fits your needs. As a user, the license helps you understand what you can and can't do with the resource.
Get help determining which license to use for your own creations with the Creative Commons license tool.
 |
CC BY |
Works given this license can be used, adapted, and shared for any reason. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. |
 |
BY-SA | Works given this license can be used, adapted, and shared as long as shared adaptations are made available under the same or compatible license. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. |
 |
BY-NC | Works given this license can be used, adapted, and shared as long as shared adaptations are not intended for commercial use. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. |
 |
BY-NC-SA | Works given this license can be used, adapted, and shared as long as shared adaptations are made available under the same or compatible license and are not intended for commercial use. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. |
 |
BY-ND | Works given this license can be used and shared unadapted for any reason. These works can be adapted for personal use only. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. Works given this license are not considered OER, but are Open Access (OA). |
 |
BY-NC-ND | Works given this license can be used and shared unadapted for non-commercial purposes. Creator must be attributed when the work is shared. Works given this license are not considered OER, but are Open Access (OA). |
In addition to the six CC licenses, you may see a work marked as being in the public domain. The Creative Commons organization offers one public domain license (CC0) to help creators dedicate their work to the public to the greatest extent of the law. A public domain mark is also available to mark works already in the public domain.
 |
CC0 | Works given this license can be used, shared, and adapted for any reason without attribution. A creator can choose this option when they want to opt out of copyright to the greatest extent of the law. | |
 |
Public Domain Mark | Works with this license can be used, shared, and adapted for any reason without attribution, although attribution is still recommended. Works are given this mark to signify their status of already being in the public domain (e.g., The Great Gatsby or Alice in Wonderland) |
United States copyright law grants some authorized uses of materials under copyright without receiving permission of the copyright owner. These permissions originate from the fair use doctrine and the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002.
Whether or not a use is considered fair use is decided by a federal judge who must consider:
Exceptions are also granted when the use is for criticism or parody or when the work needs to be made accessible to the visually impaired.
