Licensing & Attributions

Creative Commons Licenses

To get acquainted with the different Creative Commons licenses, you can click on the image to the right to watch a 5-minute video or look through the text and infographic below. The licenses are listed from least restrictive to most restrictive.

List of Creative Commons Licenses

CC0 (Public Domain Dedication)

• This isn’t technically a license but a waiver. It allows creators to waive all their rights, placing their work in the public domain, meaning anyone can use it for any purpose without needing permission or providing attribution.
• No restrictions or requirements for usage.

CC BY (Attribution)

• This license allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the original work, even commercially, as long as they credit the original creator.
• Most flexible CC license in terms of what others can do with the work, as long as proper attribution is given.

CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike)

• This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon the work as long as they credit the original creator and license their new creations under the same terms.
• Similar to CC BY, but requires derivative works to be licensed under the same CC BY-SA license, promoting the sharing of derivative works.

CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivatives)

• This license allows others to use the work as long as they do not alter it in any way and credit the original creator.
• No derivative works are allowed; only verbatim copies of the work can be shared.

CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial)

• This license allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially. New works must acknowledge the creator, but they don’t have to be licensed under the same terms.
• Limits the use of the work to non-commercial purposes only.

CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike)

• This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially. They must credit the original creator and license their new creations under the same terms.
• Similar to CC BY-NC, but derivative works must be licensed under the same terms.

CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)

• This license allows others to download the work and share it with others as long as they credit the creator, but they can’t change the work in any way or use it commercially.
• The most restrictive CC license; it only allows others to download and share the work without modification and for non-commercial purposes only.

Visual Depiction of Creative Commons Licenses

Here is a visual depiction of the Creative Commons licenses, showing the "Most Free" to "Least Free" license restrictions. Note the icons used for each license type; you will begin to recognize them as you explore OER materials.

Modifying and Adapting CC-Licensed Materials

You want to remix the content and customize it for your students. Can you do that? Maybe, depending on the license.

On the chart below look for the green column with the ability to "Modify and Adapt." When revising or remixing materials you will want the ability to modify and adapt. That is doable, unless you have a material with a ND (no derivatives) license. ND licenses also limit your ability to change the language of the material.

It can get confusing when mixing materials under various licenses. Contact your OER librarian if help is needed! 

Tip: TED Talks are under a CC BY NC ND 4.0 International license. This is the most restrictive license. You cannot cut segments or revise to combine TED Talks. If you only need a portion for your students provide the minute marker for students to start or stop watching.

Copyright & Library Resources

Every original creative work is copyrighted as soon as it's written down or saved in a tangible form. Nothing officially needs to be done to have it copyrighted.

How does that impact course materials?

• Be aware that just because something is "free" and available online it is likely copyrighted.
• News, library or web articles, and social media are likely copyrighted.
• Can I still use them? Maybe... under fair use. (Hang tight, we will cover it!)

Library Resources are usually Copyrighted

Most of the resources available at your campus library are not OER. That is, they are not free (the library pays for them), they are not openly-licensed, and they do not allow users to engage in the 5R activities (they cannot be retained, reused, revised, remixed, or redistributed). They are almost always under copyright restrictions, subject to a contract with a database provider, and are password-protected. So, the library's online subscription resources are restricted specifically to the current students, faculty, and staff at your college. 

Please watch the following video (5:26) from OpenOregon, which explains why library materials are not the same thing as open educational resources, but how they can be an important component in solving the problem of high textbook prices:

Although library resources are not "open," your campus library should still be considered a source for content that you can make available at NO COST to your students. You will find general and discipline-specific databases that offer a wide range of material types, including journals, magazines, newspapers, eBooks, streaming video, and high-resolution images. They also come with helpful librarians!

In fact, there are situations where using library content might be the best approach. This is especially true when it’s impossible to use an open equivalent for your course materials. For example, if you’re studying modern poetry, then nearly all of your primary sources will be under copyright. While there is a wide-variety of open content, there are still areas where existing OER don’t meet the learning objectives for a course. Your campus library can be used to fill those gaps.

Important Considerations

• Check with a librarian to see if it is possible to place the content directly in Canvas
  • Films on Demand, Kanopy, and PBS videos can be placed in Canvas
  • Many resources will need to be linked (copying a URL from a library resource is not recommended)
• All of the content is available for FREE for you and your students (keep it in Canvas and don't download and distribute on the web)
• eBooks are frequently 1 user at a time, so talk to your OER librarian to see if multiple licenses are available BEFORE linking it in your course
• Librarians are glad to help!

Public Domain

Public Domain are works published 100+ years ago that can be freely used by anyone, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, without permission from an original copyright owner/author.

These works may be designated for free and unlimited public access, or they may be no longer covered by copyright law because the copyright status has expired or been forfeited by the owner. Notably, Mickey Mouse entered the public domain in January 2024 Links to an external site.. 

Important Considerations

• Works that automatically enter the public domain upon creation, because they are not copyrightable:
• Titles, names, short phrases and slogans, familiar symbols, numbers
• Ideas and facts (e.g., the date of the Gettysburg Address)
• Government works and documents
• All works published in the U.S. before 1924
• To determine is a work is in the public domain use this digital slider tool.
• Materials created and released with a CC0 license (Creative Commons Zero) indicate it is in the public domain
• Potentially material created prior to 1964, if copyright was not renewed

Attributions

You may have noticed the attributions at the beginning of modules or on some pages of this course. An attribution is used to give credit and identify where material originated from when it is in the public domain or under a Creative Commons license. (NOTE: use a citation for copyrighted materials.) What is included in an attribution:

• Name of work
• Author
• Source
• Type of Creative Commons license

Attribution Generator

Need help? There's an attribution generator from Open Washington Links to an external site. or you can leverage AI to help create them (just beware of hallucinations).