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What is Licensing?

OER is based on a set of permissions that enable the use and modification of educational content. This page provides more information on the different types of licenses that can be applied to works you create, remix, and share. For additional information on copyright literacy in particular, see the Learning Portal's Copyright Literacy Module.

Open Licensing

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of legal protection that affords the copyright owner the exclusive rights to, among other things:

  1. Reproduce (copy)
  2. Distribute
  3. Publicly perform
  4. Publicly display
  5. Create "derivative works" (such as translations, revisions, other modifications)

Without permission from the copyright owner, or an applicable exception such as fair dealing under the Copyright Act, it is a violation of copyright law to exercise any of the copyright owner's exclusive rights.

For additional information on copyright literacy, see Mohawk College Library's Copyright for Faculty Guide.

What is a Copyright Licence?

A copyright licence is a grant of permission to use permission to use certain copyright rights. Copyright licences often have specific limitations that are outlined. For example, they may:

  • Be limited in time
  • Contain geographical restrictions
  • Only allow for educational uses
  • Only grant permission to use some of the copyright rights (for example, a licence may grant permission to download and distribute a work, but not the right to create derivative works)

When evaluating the permitted scope of uses, read all copyright language closely. Using a work in a manner that exceeds the scope of permissions granted in a licence is a copyright infringement.

National and Local Copyright Policy

Under the Copyright Act of Canada, the author of the work is generally the owner of the copyright. However, if a work is created within the scope of the author's employment, the employer holds the copyright unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Check the college's copyright policies and intellectual property policies. Collective agreements or employment contracts can also affect copyright ownership. Contact Mohawk College Library if you need more information, since they may be able to direct you to relevant policies and contacts.

Copyright Exceptions and Limitations:

  • Public Domain: works in the public domain are released from copyright protection due to expiration of their copyright, or by designation by the copyright holder. This content may be used in any way by anyone. In Canada, with some exceptions, copyright expires 50 years after the death of the creator.
  • Fair Dealing: in 2012, the Copyright Act of Canada was amended to add education as a purpose of fair dealing.
  • Linking to Copyrighted Materials: it is not a violation of copyright to link to copyrighted material, nor is it necessary to obtain permission from the copyright holder to, for example, link to a YouTube video in a presentation.

What is Copyleft?

Copyleft is a play on the word copyright. Copyleft is a strategy for encouraging the public's right to freely copy, share, modify and improve creative works and modified versions of those works. Copyleft describes any method that utilizes the copyright system to achieve these goals.

Copyleft as a concept is usually implemented in the details of a specific copyright licence, such as the Creative Commons Attribution Licence or the GNU General Public Licence that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution with no or limited restrictions. Copyright holders of creative works can choose these licences for their own works to build communities that collaboratively share and improve their creative works.

What are Open Licences?

Open licences support creators that want to share their works freely, and allow other users more flexibility to reuse and share the creators' works. Specific benefits include:

  • Allowing others to distribute the work freely, which in turn promotes wider circulation than if an individual or group retained the exclusive right to distribute
  • Reducing or eliminating the need for others to ask for permission to use or share the work, which can be time consuming, especially if the work has many authors
  • Encouraging others to continuously improve and add value to the work
  • Encouraging others to create new works based on the original work - for example: translations, adaptations, or works with a different scope or focus.

OER are typically licensed under an open licensing system, with the most popular being the Creative Commons (CC) licensing system.

Creative Commons licences allow creators to retain certain rights while waiving some rights. There are six types of Creative Commons licences. 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 are:

  • CC0: In general, you may treat the resource as if it were in the public domain.
  • CC BY: Attribution to the author/creator required.
  • CC BY-SA: Attribution required, and you agree to licence new derivative versions of the resource that you create under CC BY-SA as well.
  • CC BY-NC: Attribution required; non-commercial use only; commercial use requires a separate, negotiated licence.
  • CC BY-ND: Attribution required; no derivative works permitted; creation of derivative works requires a separate, negotiated licence.
  • CC BY-NC-ND: This licence is the most restrictive of our six main licences. It allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.

Watch this short video that explains the six Creative Commons Licences, by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.

Determining Permissions:

Determine the use permissions of the materials you find by following these steps:

  • Read through the resource: licensing information that dictates reuse or adaptation can be found in the resource or its surrounding details.
  • Search for an "About" or "Terms of Use" page: a specific page of the resource's website may also contain permissions and licensing information.
  • If you are unsure about permissions, it is safer to not reuse: if you are unable to find information stating explicit permissions, assume the copyright owner is retaining all of their exclusive rights. If in doubt, please contact your liaison librarian for assistance.

Additional Notes:

  • In Canada, the majority of federal, provincial and territorial government works are protected by Crown copyright, which expires 50 years after the date of publication. However, the Government of Canada allows for the reproduction of its works for personal or public non-commercial purposes, or for cost-recovery purposes, under specific conditions.
  • Some provincial and territorial governments in Canada also allow reproduction of their works under certain restrictions. Check the respective government website for more information.

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:

Which Licence? A Use Case

In this animated video, Michelle develops a chapter on metabolism for an open textbook. She uses her teaching notes for the text of chapter, and finds openly licensed images and exercises to accompany the text. She also determines which Creative Commons licence to assign to her finished chapter before sharing it.