Most OER are released under Creative Commons (CC) licenses, which explicitly allow for uses beyond those typically allowed under copyright law.
In essence, CC flips the traditional copyright model, in which all rights are reserved except those expressly granted. Instead, under CC all rights are granted except those expressly reserved.
CC materials do not reside in the public domain; the creator still retains legal ownership of the work. However, unlike traditionally copyrighted materials, all CC materials may legally be redistributed to anyone, at any time, indefinitely.
In addition, most CC materials can be revised and remixed before being redistributed. The exact permissions allowed for a particular work depend upon what CC license is applied to it.
Requires you to attribute the source of the work. All other uses are allowed.
This is the most open CC license.
Attribution / Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)
Requires you to attribute the source of the work.
You are allowed to change the work, but you cannot use it for commercial purposes.
Attribution / ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Requires you to attribute the source of the work. You are allowed to make changes to the work,
but any derivative works you create must also be released under a CC BY-SA license.
Attribution / Non-Commercial / ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
Requires you to attribute the source of the work.
You are allowed to make changes to the work, but you cannot use it for commercial purposes,
and any derivative works you create must also be released under a CC BY-NC-SA license.
Attribution / Non-Derivative (CC BY-ND)
Requires you to attribute the source of the work,
and prohibits you from making any changes to the work.
Attribution / Non-Commercial / Non-Derivative (CC BY-NC-ND)
Requires you to attribute the source of the work, and prohibits you from
making any changes to the work or using it for commercial purposes.
This is the most restrictive CC license.
If you are applying a CC license to work you created, the Creative Commons license page can help you choose which license is right for you.
It will also give you language to use to apply the license.
