OER, NOLO, and the University Library

There are two decisions you should make regarding copyright, licensing, and citation.

• How will you license your OER? This makes clear to your readers how you want the OER to be used and re-used. Visit the CC License Help website to learn more and choose a license.
• How will you cite the sources you use in creating the OER? Generally, you just need to choose a citation style (APA, MLA, CSE, or your other favorite), and then create appropriate citations for resources you use. See Best Practices for Attribution for more guidance.

Creative Commons is a widely-used and widely-understood license type. It will allow you to use common language for licensing, with relatively clear usage permissions.

There are six Creative Commons License types. The distinctions indicate whether or not material is to be directly copied or whether it will be changed and adapted, and whether or not a commercial use is intended. All licenses require that the original creator be attributed.

CC BY: attribute the author. Allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. Allows for commercial use.

CC BY-SA: attribute the author and "share-alike", meaning reusers must license their content to also be freely shared. (In other words, you cannot place a more restrictive license than the original CC BY-SA work.) Allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. Allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

CC BY-NC: attribute the author, only non-commercial uses allowed. Allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. 

CC BY-ND: attribute the author, no derivatives. Allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. 

CC BY-NC-ND: attribute the author, no commercial use, no derivatives. Allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. 

CC 0 public domain, no license required. This is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. Allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.