CC Licences and OER

Some Copyright Basics

In Canada and elsewhere, original works are protected by copyright law as soon as they are fixed in a medium until they enter the public domain. The rights holder of a copyright-protected work is generally the author unless they sign their copyright away, such as to a publisher.

No one can copy or make changes to copyright-protected works unless the rights holder explicitly grants permission OR unless user rights granted in the Canadian Copyright Act, such as fair dealing, apply. Users must either assess whether an exception sufficiently applies to their use case OR ask permission.

Open licences, including some Creative Commons licences, are a way for copyright owners to control and grant permission for how their works are shared while also enabling users to readily identify how and whether they can copy or change the work.

Creative Commons Licences

Creative Commons defines itself as “a nonprofit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity to address the world’s pressing challenges.” CC licences are standard, easy-to-use and understand copyright licences that anybody can apply to their work to allow others to share, remix, or use their work without requiring the user to contact them (the copyright holder) to ask for permission. The licence already grants certain permissions.