Creative Commons licenses

Creative Commons licenses, or CC licenses for short, provide authors with a simple way to specify the conditions under which their works can be used. When publishing your research open access, choosing the right CC license is crucial. Not issuing a license means making the free exchange of information more difficult, as this legally restricts the use of the works.

A CC license can only be granted if the publication is not subject to any other rights of use (which have been stated in the publishing contracts, for example).

A total of six licenses are available. The University and State Library of Münster recommends the following two licenses in particular, as they are in line with the Berlin open access declaration and the Budapest open access initiative and thus contain the fewest restrictions for use in research and teaching:

  • CC-BY: Attribution
    Your work can be (re)edited and republished by others, but your name as the author of the original version must always be mentioned.
  • CC-BY-SA: Attribution- Redistribution under equal terms
    Your work can be (re)edited and republished by others, but your name as the author of the original version must always be mentioned. The newly created document or even the commercial use of your work must be distributed under the same license terms as the source document.
© DEAL-Konsortium, CC BY 4.0

The DEAL-Konsortium recommends the CC BY (Attribution) license, because it stands out as the best choice for maximizing the impact and reach of your work.

For more information on the distribution of CC licenses, see a brochure produced by iRights.info together with Wikimedia Deutschland and Creative Commons Deutschland or the Guide to Open Content Licenses (de, en) from the German Commission for UNESCO.

The Licence Chooser developed by Creative Commons offers help in choosing the right CC license.
Detailed information on CC licenses, e.g. for teaching, can be found in this compilation.

CC-BY

Attribution

CC BY 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • make variations and adaptations of the work or content
  • use the work commercially
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder

CC-BY-SA

Attribution – Redistribution under equal terms

CC BY-SA 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • make variations and adaptations of the work or content
  • use the work commercially
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder
  • Redistribution on equal terms: if you adapt the licensed work or licensed content or otherwise use it recognizably as the basis for your own work, you may redistribute the resulting work or content only under license terms that are identical or comparable to those in this license contract.

CC-BY-ND

Attribution – No editing

CC BY-ND 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • use the work commercially
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder
  • No editing: this work or content may not be edited, modified or otherwise altered in any way

CC-BY-NC

Attribution – Non-commercial

CC BY-NC 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • make variations and adaptations of the work or content
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder
  • No commercial use: this work or content may not be used for commercial purposes

CC-BY-NC-ND

Attribution – Non-Commercial – No editing

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder
  • No commercial use: this work or content may not be used for commercial purposes
  • No editing: this work or content may not be edited, modified or otherwise altered in any way

CC-BY-NC-SA

Attribution – Non-Commercial - Redistribution under equal terms

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 EN

  • reproduce, distribute and make the work or content publicly available
  • make variations and adaptations of the work or content
  • Attribution: You must attribute the name of the author/rights holder in the manner specified by the author/rights holder
  • No commercial use: this work or content may not be used for commercial purposes
  • Redistribution on equal terms: if you adapt the licensed work or licensed content or otherwise use it recognizably as the basis for your own work, you may redistribute the resulting work or content only under license terms that are identical or comparable to those in this license contract.