Glossary
Adapt – To modify or build upon a work to create something new.
Adaptation Statement – A declaration that a work has been modified, required when using Creative Commons licences that permit derivatives.
Adaptor’s Licence – The licence you apply to your own creative contribution when adapting an existing work. Users must comply with both the original licence and the adaptor’s licence, so compatibility is essential.
All Rights Reserved – Default copyright status. No reuse is permitted without explicit permission from the copyright holder.
Attribution – The act of crediting the original creator of a work. Required under all Creative Commons licences.
C.A.R.E. – CARE principles for sharing data. Collective benefit; Authority to control; Responsibility; Ethics.
CC0 – Public domain dedication. Waives all copyright claims and allows unrestricted use. Also called Creative Commons Zero.
CC BY – Creative Commons Attribution licence. Allows reuse, remixing, and commercial use with attribution.
CC BY-NC – Attribution-NonCommercial licence. Allows reuse and remixing for non-commercial purposes only.
CC BY-ND – Attribution-NoDerivatives licence. Allows sharing but not modification.
CC BY-SA – Attribution-ShareAlike licence. Allows reuse and remixing, but derivatives must be licensed under the same terms.
CC BY-NC-SA – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence. Allows reuse and remixing for non-commercial purposes only, and derivatives must carry the same licence.
CC BY-NC-ND – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence. Allows sharing for non-commercial purposes only, with no modifications.
Collection – A group of separate works presented together (e.g. anthology, playlist). Each work retains its original licence. The overall collection may have its own licence, but it does not override the licences of the individual items.
Copyleft – A licensing approach that allows a work to be used, modified, and shared freely, on the condition that any derivative works are released under the same or a compatible licence. This “ShareAlike” principle ensures that the freedoms granted by the original work are preserved for all subsequent users.
Creative Commons (CC) – A global non-profit organisation that provides free, standardised licences to allow creators to share their work with specified permissions. “CC” can refer to both the organisation and the suite of licences it publishes.
Creative Commons Licence – A legal tool issued by the CC organisation that specifies how a work may be used, shared, adapted, or redistributed. Examples include CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-SA, etc.
Creative Commons Zero – Public domain dedication (CC0).
Derivative Work – A new work based on or adapted from an existing one. May include translations, remixes, or modified formats.
Exclusive licence – A legal agreement where the copyright owner grants all rights to use a work to only one licensee (generally the publisher). The copyright owner gives up their rights to reuse the work.
F.A.I.R – The FAIR principles for sharing data. Data should be Findable; Accessible; Interoperable; Reusable.
Fair Dealing – A legal copyright exception in some jurisdictions (e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) allowing limited use of copyrighted material without permission for specified purposes such as research, study, criticism, review, news reporting, parody, or disability access.
Fair Use – A U.S. copyright exception that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission for a range of purposes provided the use meets certain fairness factors.
Free to read – Read access is not restricted by a paywall, but copyright is ‘all rights reserved’ and explicit permission is required for reuse.
Licence Statement – A declaration of the licence applied to a work. May include a badge, link, version number, and copyright notice. Should be placed where users can easily find it.
Licencee – The person or entity who receives permission under a licence to use a work. Note: you can be both licencee and licensor.
Licensor – The person or entity granting a licence to others to use a work. Note: you can be both licensor and licencee.
Moral rights – The rights of a creator to be credited for their work, to not be falsely attributed and to object to derogatory treatment of their work.
Non-Commercial Use (NC)– Use that is not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
Non-exclusive licence – A legal agreement where the copyright owner grants a licence to more than one licensee. A Creative Commons licence is non-exclusive. A subscription to a newspaper or journal is non-exclusive.
Open Access (OA) – Free availability of scholarly outputs online, with minimal restrictions on use. Works must be openly licenced to be truly open access (OA).
Open Educational Resources (OER) – Teaching, learning, and research materials that are freely available and openly licensed for reuse and adaptation.
Open licence – A licence indicating the copyright owner has given permission for some uses. Instead of ‘all rights reserved’ there are ‘some rights reserved’.
Public Domain – Works not protected by copyright and free to use without conditions. Not all freely available online content is in the public domain.
Remix – To combine multiple works into a new creation. Often used in music, video, and OER. Requires compatible licences.
Share – To copy, distribute, or make a work available to others. Most CC licences allow sharing with attribution.
ShareAlike (SA) – A licence condition requiring derivative works to be shared under the same or a compatible licence. Often referred to as a “copyleft” condition.
TASL – Acronym for Title, Author, Source, Licence — the four components of a best practice attribution statement under Creative Commons.
Third-party copyright – Any material created or owned by someone else, which you can only use if you have permission, a licence, or a legal exception.
