Copy"left" is when copyright holders decide to share their works using agreements or licenses that either reduce or remove copyright limitations. In most cases when using the work for non-commercial purposes copy"left" licenses let you use the work for free, as long as you follow the terms of the agreement or license. If you would like more information on alternatives like Open Access and Creative Commons Licenses, check out the Library's Research Guides on Open Access and the OER Toolkit.
Creative Commons Licences allow creators to retain certain rights while waiving some rights. There are six types of Creative Commons licence. All require attribution to the original creator(s). The creator can add on other restrictions such as non-commercial uses only and no derivative works.
The six licences include:
Open Licence Conditions
As a creator of OER, you can choose the conditions of reuse and modification by selecting one or more of the restrictions listed below:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for non-commercial purposes only.
You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the licence that governs your work
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Attribution:
Text a derivative of definitions provided in A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources by Commonwealth of Learning, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles, coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. (SPARC)
What are Open Educational Resources or OERs?
Open Educational Resources, or OER, refer to any teaching and learning materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open licence, such as a Creative Commons Licence, that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution with no or limited restrictions.
OER Can Be: Full courses, learning objects, tests or any other tools, materials, or techniques for use in teaching, learning, and research.
Course Material
Open Textbooks
Videos
Lessons Plans
Software
Games
Attribution:
OER Can Be and the associated images are a derivative of the BCOER Poster by BCcampus licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Definition of OER is from UNESCO, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
The 5 Rs of OERs
The “5 Rs” is a framework that encourages educators to capitalize on the unique rights associated with open content. These rights include the ability to:
| Retain | Make and own copies of the work (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage) |
| Reuse | Use the work in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video) |
| Revise | Adapt, modify and translate the work (e.g., translate the content into another language) |
| Remix | Combine it with another resource to make a new work (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup) |
| Redistribute | Share the work with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend) |
These rights, or permissions, are made possible through open licensing. For example, Creative Commons open licences help creators of OER retain copyright while allowing others to reproduce, distribute, and make some uses of their work.