Reviewing OER Licensing for License Compatibility
Overview
This mini-lesson explores how the terms Creative Commons licenses support revising or remixing OER for correct attribution.
(Review and deepen knowledge)
In Module 1 of this series, we reviewed a definition of open licensing. In this Module, we want to look closely at why the license matters for the processes of revision or remixing.
Open licensing refers to when the author chooses terms of use that allow others to use, share or change the work with few restrictions. A non-profit called Creative Commons created a set of open licenses called the Creative Commons licenses that is a standardized way to explain how other users can re-use, redistribute, retain, revise and remix the work.
When faculty are planning to revise or remix a resource, they will need to check the terms of the original license.
Let's clarify the difference between revising and remixing:
- revising an OER will mean making changes to the original OER to edit, adapt or modify a resource with the intent to keep the OER in it's basic orginal format.
- remixing OER is when multiple OER are combined in order to create a new resource.
For both of these types of iterations, faculty will need to be sure that they are following the terms of the original OER's license. The main limitations are going to be the "No Derivatives" term of use and the "Share Alike" term of use.
- No Derivatives means that you cannot make changes and then distribute your changes. The work must only be distributed in its original form.
- Share Alike means that you can make changes, but any changes and remixes must have the same license as the original. For example, if an infographic is licensed CC-BY-SA, then it can only be used in other resources that exactly licensed CC-BY-SA.
In the chart below, you start on the left column with the OER's original license - for example a textbook licensed CC-BY. Then you use the top row to select the license of the additional material you want to add, for example, an infographic licensed CC-BY-SA that you want to modify. You can combine those two works, but the new combination would need to be licensed CC-BY-SA.
Looking at an Example:
- If an infographic is licensed CC-BY-NC-SA:
- Can you remix the image by adding an audio description?
- Yes - this license allows for derivatives
- When you remix it, can you license it CC-BY?
- No - Any derivatives of the original work need to be modified as CC-BY-NC-SA.
- Can you include the infographic in its original form in a textbook licensed CC-BY?
- Yes! The infographic must be clearly captioned and given attribution and the textbook must note "licensed CC-BY except where noted."
Below are steps for checking the licensing before revising or remixing.
- Find the original licensing terms for every existing resource that you wish to change or combine.
- Consider finding contact information for each resource in case you need to contact the author.
- Use the license compatability chart to check for license alignment.
- Create appropriate attributions for each revised or adapted component.
- Determine a license for the overall work.
- Collaborate with a peer to check the licensing and attributions.