What are Creative Commons licenses?
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that uses a modular system to provide standard licensing agreements. Large scientific publishers with an open access program use it, among other things.
The individual elements are represented by abbreviations:
- Attribution: BY
- No commercial use: NC
- No editing: ND
- Reproduction under the same conditions: SA
The combination of these elements results in a total of six different standard license agreements, as shown in the diagram opposite.
Authors retain copyright - free re-use possible
Per se, all scientific publications are protected by copyright. Copyright law initially excludes free re-use by others, with the exception of the right to quote. By granting Creative Commons licenses, rights holders can transparently and easily define the terms of use for their works. This makes it possible to make scientific contributions freely accessible, to copy and distribute them without having to explicitly ask the rights holder each time. With all licenses, the moral rights of the author are preserved. Positive and desired effect: The probability that articles will be cited more frequently increases with increasing distribution.
Only the CC-BY and CC-BY-SA licenses correspond to the open access definition of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. Research funders such as the DFG also recommend the use of open licenses in science.
Non-commercial licenses are often selected by scientists in order to exclude commercial re-use. The line between commercial and non-commercial is often very blurred. For this reason, NC licenses usually do not fulfill the desired purpose. It should be noted that the NC attribute does not protect ideas, facts or inventions. The license only protects the published work itself.
Video tip: The non-commercial license in science
Select the CC-BY license when submitting your article. DEAL authors will also receive additional information on licensing on the Projekt DEAL website.
Plagiarism is not encouraged by Creative Commons licenses, as all licensing models require the author to be named. In the spirit of good scientific practice, third-party publications must not be passed off as one's own work. The will of individuals leads to plagiarism, not the legal framework.
Amini, S., Blechl, G., & Losehand, J. (2015, October 10). FAQs on Creative Commons licenses with a special focus on science.
Creative Commons - FAQ
Klimpel, P. (2012). Free knowledge thanks to Creative Commons licenses: Consequences, risks and side effects of the condition "non-commercial - NC
Kreutzer, T. (2016). Open content - a practical guide to the use of Creative Commons licenses (2nd ed.). Bonn, Cologne, Berlin: German UNESCO Commission e.V.; hbz; WIKIMEDIA Germany
Steinhau, H. ; Pachali, D. (2018). Open for commerce? Educational materials and the problem of non-commercial licenses