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Open Educational Resources (OER)

Information about OERs at Southworth Library

copyright decision map

Copyright and Fair Use

Fair use is a longstanding and vital aspect of American Copyright law. Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use. Types of fair use, for instance, criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research, are examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. Four factors in evaluating a question of fair use are:

  • Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is commercial or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
  • Nature of the copyrighted work - This factor analyzes the degree to which the work used relates to the copyright's purpose of encouraging creative expression.
  • The amount and sustainability of the portion used for the copyrighted work.
  • Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work - to what extent does the unlicensed use harm the existing or future market for the copyright owner's original work?

Common Types of Open Licenses - CC Licenses

What are "Creative Commons" licenses?

"Creative Commons" licenses are referred to as "CC" licenses and are examples of open licenses. So, if someone creates OER and wants to share it with others, they put CC licenses on their work.

  • Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY)
  • This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, 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. 
  • Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
  • This license allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under identical terms. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. 
  • Creative Commons - Attribution-No Derivatives (CC BY-ND)
  • This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial use, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you. This means no edits or changes to the original work.
  • Creative Commons - Attribution-No Commercial (CC BY-NC)
  • This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they do not have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
  • Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
  • This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially as long as they credit you and license their new creations under identical terms.
  • Creative Commons - Attribution-No Commercial - No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)
  • This license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they cannot change them in any way or use them commercially. 

CC licenses and examples are from the Creative Commons website.

Creative Commons License Chooser - Use the Creative Commons License Chooser to add the CC license notice to your works or websites.

Download Creative Commons Licenses

Types of Public Domain Licenses - Creative COmmons

A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright, which means it is FREE for others to use without permission.

  • Creative Commons Zero (cc0) - This license is "No Rights Reserved." This type of public domain is when the creator(s) has waived their rights to the works and gifted their work to the world. 
  • Public Domain - It is also known as "No Known Copyright." This enables works no longer restricted by copyright to be marked as such in a standard and simple way, making them easily discoverable and available to others.
  • Public Domain Licenses - From the Creative Commons website.