10 Licensing
When dealing with open access publishing, authors will often encounter open licenses such as Creative Commons (CC). CC licenses provide a standardized way for authors to share their work with others. Offering works under a CC license does not mean that authors give up copyright. The licenses merely allow other people to reuse, remix and share the content legally, as long as they follow certain conditions.
Certain publishers may use CC licenses when publishing materials. These licenses are also common offerings in repositories. Authors should be aware of these options when choosing where and how to publish.
Common Creative Commons licenses include the following:
- CC BY (Attribution): Allows all varieties of reuse as long as the original author is cited.
- CC BY NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): Only allows use of materials for non-commercial purposes.
- CC BY NC ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives): Allows reuse but with no alterations or adaptations to the original material.
Some points to consider when selecting a license include:
- The CC BY license is the least restrictive option as it allows others to copy and redistribute the article in any medium or format.
- The “non-commercial” clause in the CC BY NC and CC BY NC ND licenses can be problematic due to the lack of clarity around what constitutes a “non-commercial” activity. Some educational venues could be perceived as “commercial” in nature and, therefore, may not be able to benefit from use of CC BY NC material.
- The “no-derivatives” clause restricts uses such as translation or accessibility remediation without express permission from the author.
- Note that some publishers may place an CC BY NC or CC BY NC ND license on an article but may still compel authors to sign an “exclusive license to publish” agreement. This means, in effect, that the author can only use the article in the ways permitted by the Creative Commons license, which may be more restrictive than the author might wish.