Open Licenses Overview
Introduction
In order for a textbook to be considered open, it must include a Creative Commons license that allows for editing. Creative Commons Links to an external site. (CC) licenses are standardized, open copyright licenses that have been adopted by millions of people around the world. The rights holder (likely the author or publisher) can add a CC license to their work without any fees, paperwork, or registration.
Sharing an Open Understanding
Before starting an open textbook project, it's important that everyone agree on which CC license they're going to use. That means that everyone needs to understand the impact their selected license will have on how the work is completed. For example, openly licensing an open textbook has implications for how authors will need to select and attribute third party images included in the work.
"I found that without a full understanding of what it means to be “open” and the requirements of Creative Commons, some faculty will do a lot of work and include a lot of content that is not open or appropriate for an open textbook. I have had to change my approach to making sure that faculty first understand what it means to be “open” just to save them a lot of extra work."
— Shane Nackerud, Director of Affordable Learning and Open Education, University of Minnesota Libraries
Sharing an Open Understanding is adapted from Authoring Open Textbooks Links to an external site. from Open Education Network (CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.).
Creative Commons and Copyright
In this section, we'll discuss how copyright and Creative Commons (CC) licenses work together.
- CC licenses work in parallel with copyright, not separately, allowing creators to retain their copyright in a work.
- A CC license is a way to assign rights about how works can be shared and modified by the public. This can be thought of as ‘some rights reserved.’
- A creator can choose to waive their copyright in a work, making it completely open (no rights reserved), using the CC Public Domain Mark Links to an external site. (CC0).
Types of Creative Common Licenses
The following information is adapted from the Creative Common's About the Licenses Links to an external site..
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Links to an external site.
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon a work, even commercially, as long as they provide attribution to the creators of the original work. Many in the open education community, including the Open Education Network, believe that the most appropriate license for open textbooks is the CC BY license as it allows users retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute open textbooks. This is commonly referred to as the 5R's, a concept developed by David Wiley Links to an external site..
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Links to an external site.
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work even for commercial purposes, as long as they provide attribution to the creators of the original and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Links to an external site.
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work, although new works must also acknowledge the original creators and be non-commercial, meaning the use is not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Links to an external site.
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work non-commercially as long as they provide attribution to the creators of the original and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) Links to an external site.
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit given to the original creators. This license is not considered to be appropriate for open textbooks as it does not allow works to be revised or remixed.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International: (CC BY NC ND) Links to an external site.
This license allows others to download and share works as long as they provide attribution to the creators of the original, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. This license is also not considered to be appropriate for open textbooks as it does not allow works to be revised or remixed.
Attribution
All Creative Commons licenses require attribution. See the CC's wiki on recommended practices for attribution Links to an external site..
Disclaimer
You may stop distributing works under a CC license at any time, but anyone who has access to a copy of the original, openly licensed work may continue to use and redistribute it under the CC license terms. As such, you should carefully consider which CC license is the best fit for your open textbook. On your path to create an open resource, you may want to consult with legal or copyright specialists about your licensing questions. The information found here on open licensing is intended for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice.