Open Content Licences

Depending on how one defines open access, the term may mean that a work is not only accessible free of charge but also that it may be reused extensively. To clearly indicate what rights apply when using the work, it can be made available under an open content licence, for example a Creative Commons licence.

Open content licences are standardised licences that allow copyrighted works to be used free of charge. This increases not only the usage possibilities but in practice also the visibility of the works. However, authors may grant open licences only if they have not already granted a third party – for example a publisher – exclusive rights of use in the works.

In science, Creative Commons (CC) licences are used frequently, while Digital Peer Publishing Licences (DPPL) and the GNU Initiative's Free Documentation Licence (GNU-FDL) are used less frequently. Whereas CC licences and the DPPL are internationally compatible, the GNU-FDL is tailored to the Anglo-American legal area. By making works available under an open content licence, they can be reused without having to ask the rights holder's permission. Information to this effect appears in the licence chosen, and a link to the licence text is provided when publishing the work. When reusing works licensed in this way, the author's right of attribution remains unaffected. If the licence allows the work to be adapted, the fact that the new work is an adaptation must be indicated, and reference must be made to the original work.

When choosing a suitable licence for one’s own open access publication, care should be taken to ensure that a free right of access to the work and the right to reuse it in the aforementioned ways are guaranteed.


Creative Commons Licenses for Open Access

Common Licensing Models

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organisation that offers standardised licences for copyrighted works free of charge. With these CC licences, the holders of the exploitation rights in a protected work can grant rights of use to users of the work. The rights holder and the author of a work are not identical if, for example, the author has transferred their exclusive exploitation rights to a publisher in a publishing agreement. Copyright protection of the work does not cease if a CC licence is applied to it. On the Creative Commons website, you will find details of the CC licences and a comprehensive list of FAQs.

The CC 4.0 licence suite is the current international version of the CC licences. The texts of the previous versions were "ported" – that is, the original English-language licence text, which was based on U.S. law, was adapted in the course of translation into other languages to copyright law in the respective jurisdiction. To avoid jeopardising standardisation in the granting of rights, which is the objective of the CC licences, CC ceased "porting" as of version 4.0.

The CC licence suite comprises six core licences. The CC Attribution licence (CC BY) grants users the most rights of use. This licence is compatible with every definition of open access, and its use is recommended by open-access.network.

Regarding the requirements laid down in the Berlin Declaration – whereby in particular the making of derivative works and the use of works for any responsible purpose, and thus also for commercial purposes, should be permitted – the only CC licences that are "genuinely" open access licences are the CC BY and CC BY-SA licences.

In particular the NC (NonCommercial) component involves some difficulties, as it is often controversial whether cases constitute commercial use. Classical examples are the reuse of works on commercial platforms, at private educational institutions, or by non-profit educational providers that charge fees for certain services in order to cover their costs, and that thus act commercially. Therefore, the use of the NC component is discouraged by many.

The Digital Peer Publishing Licences (DPPL) were created on the basis of German law with funding from the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. They regulate free access to publications through modules with different degrees of permissiveness. No distinction is made between scholarly and commercial use. Because the licensed work may be distributed only electronically, the rights to use it in printed form or on carrier media are not covered by the licence and remain with the authors. Moreover, in contrast to the CC licences, the DPPL apply only to textual works. The individual DPPL modules, and FAQs about them, can be found on the website of the North Rhine-Westphalian Library Service Center (hbz). With regard to the requirements laid down in the Berlin Declaration, whereby users should be granted the right to freely access the licensed work and to make derivative works, the modular DPPL does not meet the definition of open access used.

The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or GFDL) provided by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is based on US copyright law. The cur­rent version is Version 1.3, which was released in 2008. The licence hails from the software scene, and its characteristic feature is the "copyleft" principle, whereby all derivative works must themselves be released under the same licence as the original works. The special feature of the GNU FDL 1.3 is that certain materials released under that licence may be relicensed and used under the terms of the CC BY-SA 3.0 licence. It is questionable, however, whether the GNU FDL can be considered legally watertight in Germany, as it includes an exclusion of liability (warranty disclaimer) for wilful intent, which is not permissible under German law. However, the disclaimer renders only the corresponding clause in the licence text invalid, not the licensing agreement as a whole. Moreover, with the exception of the possibility of excluding certain parts of the work from adaptation, the licence fulfils the requirements of the Berlin Declaration. 

The sample STM Licences released by the Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers in 2014 are not open access licences within the meaning of the Berlin Declaration. The three full licences and two supplementary licences reserve certain commercial rights. It is not advised to use the supplementary licences as supplements to CC licen­ces, because the risk for the users is that the CC licences will thus be­come invalid, as they may be amended only by an individual agreement in writing. If a supplementary STM licence is used as a supplement to a CC licence, it must also be made clear that the licence is no longer a CC licence. In particular, the CC icons should no longer be used. However, this would be contrary to the uncomplicated use of standard licences.

Research data can also be published open access, and their reuse can be regulated via licences. Open licences maximise the sharing of research data and thus their dissemination and visibility. The most frequently used licences are:

  • Creative Commons (CC)
  • GNU General Public Licence (GPL) / designed for software
  • Open Data Commons (ODC) / designed for data collections

As from Version 4.0, the CC licences are also suitable for research data. In the case of earlier versions, the protective effect is questionable.

The licence chosen should be the one whose terms are suitable for the field, discipline, and data type in question. However, to comply with the FAIR Principles, the use of a CC BY licence is recommended.

How Exactly do Creative Commons Licenses Work?

The Correct Indication of a License

Open Licenses for Open Research


Practical Tip

Forschungsdaten.info provides detailed information about Creative Commons licences for research data and about publishing research data.

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