Key Takeaways

1. Open licenses do not replace copyright. Instead, they work with copyright to allow creators to facilitate the reuse of their work by reducing the usual restrictions.
2. A license functions like a permission from the copyright holder.
3. Attribution is the basic condition of all Creative Commons licenses.
4. Be mindful that the ND condition (NoDerivatives) runs counter to two of the 5Rs (revising and remixing).
5. Without an open license, an educational resource can be free, but not necessarily “open”.
6. The Canadian Copyright Act, as it is currently structured, does not adequately account for traditional knowledge. Therefore, open licenses may not be the appropriate tool to manage, share and protect Indigenous knowledge.

 Useful Resources

• Creative Commons, About The Licenses
• Creative Commons, Licenses icons
• Creative Commons, Combining and adapting CC material
• Local Contexts, TK Labels
• Mélanie Brunet and Catherine Lachaîne, How to Attribute Creative Commons-Licensed Content: Best Practices (CC BY 4.0)

Module Map

Unsure of where to go from here? Navigate with ease using the module map to chart your course!

Attributions

• Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), A Guide to Copyright (Assignments and Licences)
• Ontario Extend, Creative Commons and Copyright, Curator Module,  CC BY-NC-SA
• Ontario Extend, Open Licences Refresher, Open Content,  CC BY-NC-SA
• fabriqueREL, Licences,  CC BY
• University of Ottawa Library, Open Licences and Copyright,  CC BY
• TK Labels, Local Contexts
• Brunet, Mélanie,  Copyright and Licensing for Open Educational Resources (OER)  CC BY