Creative Commons Licences - basic information

Creative Commons Licenses in general

Files stored in the repository with one of the Creative Commons licences are openly accessible in the repository (or openly accessible after a certain time has elapsed since they were stored in the repository, the “embargo period”). This depends on the specific licence and to what extent the users of the repository can use the respective file. Rights and obligations arising from Creative Commons licences are defined by four licensing elements (BY, SA, ND, NC). These elements and their combinations form the six licensing types described below.

Licences containing three licensing elements (CC BY-NC-SA and CC BY-NC-ND) are fairly restrictive, as combinations of more than one licensing element result in more restrictive terms for users. For this reason, we recommend using more liberal licences, in particular the CC BY and CC BY-SA licences. Only these two licences are considered open licences within the meaning of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access, as they allow the broad use of licensed works (including the creation of derivative works and the commercial use of licensed content).

Types of Creative Commons Licences

CC BY: Attribution

This licence is the most liberal of the Creative Commons licences. If you opt for this one, you give permission to users to use the full text in any manner possible (e.g. to translate it, to use it as part of their works, to share it, ...), but only if they provide the following information with each such use: title of the work, author’s name, the source, and the licence under which the full text was made available. Providing this information fulfils the condition of the BY licensing element, which is a part of all types of Creative Commons licences. This means that this full-text information must be provided by the user every time they use a work under one of the Creative Commons licences. Hence, the authorship is always indicated, and none of the users can assume ownership of the work.

CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

As mentioned above, this licence also contains a BY element. Hence, whenever using the full text made available under this licence, the user must indicate the title of the work, the author’s name, the source, and the licence. In addition, there is an SA licensing element present, which requires the use of the same licensing terms. This means that if the user creates a derivative work (a completely new work, the author of which is the user, but which is based on the original work), they must share it under the same terms, i.e. with the CC BY-SA licence (in the same or a later version).

CC BY-ND: Attribution-NoDerivatives

With this licence as well, the BY licensing element must be observed. So users will be able to use the work if they indicate the title of the work, the author’s name, the source, and the licence. An author usually opts for a licence containing the ND licensing element if they do not wish the work to be changed or interfered with in any way. Thus, if a work is provided with a licence containing the ND licensing element, the work may not be altered in any manner, i.e. no new works may be derived from the original work. For example, works that use this licence cannot be translated.

CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial

The NC element states that the author prohibits the commercial use of their work. Hence, the user can use the work in any manner as long as they do not benefit commercially from such use. In addition, of course, it must fulfil the condition of the BY licensing element, i.e. stating the title of the work, the author’s name, the source, and the licence.

CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

This licence allows users to use the work in any manner provided that such use is not commercial. If the user creates a new (derivative) work that they want to license, they must select the same license, i.e. CC BY-NC-SA (in the same or a later version). Of course, even here, every time the work is used, the user must provide appropriate information about the work: the title of the work, the author's name, the source, and the licence.

CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

This licence is selected by authors who do not wish their work to be processed or changed in any manner (i.e. translated) or to be used commercially. Again, the user is obligated to state the title of the work, the author’s name, the source, and the licence when using the work.

Creative Commons License Versions and National Adaptations

Licence versions are numbered. These are different wordings of the licences numbered in ascending order according to the year of creation. The oldest version of the licences is version 1.0 from 2002. The latest version 4.0 is from 2013.

For licences in version 3.0 and older, there is a general or generic licence (in versions 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 marked as Generic, in version 3.0 as Unported) and several national (adapted) versions, i.e. versions with altered content resulting from differences between the legal systems of different countries. Adapted versions of licences are marked with the abbreviation of the specific country (e.g. the abbreviation AT in the CC BY 2.0 AT licence indicates a licence in version 2.0 adapted to the Austrian legal system). The latest version 4.0 no longer has adapted versions, because it is an international version. This means that the text of all licence types in version 4.0 is consistent with the legal systems of all countries (always marked as 4.0 International). For this reason, we recommend selecting only the latest international version 4.0.