3 Copyright & Licensing Considerations
Most OER are licensed using a Creative Commons (CC) license, which allows creators to choose exactly how their work can be used in and reused. Since OER offer free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5Rs, it’s important to tell others exactly how they can and cannot use OER you’ve created. Similarly, if you’re adopting or adapting existing OER, you should identify the license so that you understand how the resource you’re using can be used.
Find below information about four Creative Commons licenses for OER. The Creative Commons’ License Chooser tool may help you select the best license for your needs.
Attribution
CC BY
This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, 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 materials.
Attribution-ShareAlike
CC BY-SA
This license lets others remix, adapt, 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.
Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
This license lets others remix, adapt, 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.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
