Copyright and Creative Commons For Open-Source Tool Use
Teaching and learning with open tools requires a working knowledge of U.S. copyright. Copyright and related licensing structures, such as Creative Commons, establish what a user can or cannot do with the licensed item.
Below is an overview of licensing possibilities and best practices for attribution. You can also learn more about finding openly licensable materials.
Copyright
- In the United States, copyright is automatic. Once a work is finished, all rights to that work are assigned to the creator.
- Always assume a work is subject to copyright until you can prove otherwise.
- The phrase “all rights” is conventionally understood to include making, distributing, and/or selling copies and public reading or exhibition.
- Copyright laws vary in other countries.
Public Domain
- Works not under copyright or other licensing conditions (including patent and trademark laws) can be said to be in the public domain.
- Many items come into the public domain after their term of copyright has expired. (As of 2025, this includes most works prior to 1929.)
- Items can be “dedicated” to the public domain by creators who want their work to be freely circulated.
- Other items belong to the public domain because they cannot be copyrighted, for example, many items created by/for the United States government such as statutes, legal decisions, or media generated by government agencies such as NASA.
Creative Commons Licenses
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2001 with the goal of encouraging open culture by providing alternatives to the “all rights reserved” approach to copyright. In 2002, they launched the first Creative Commons licenses, which provide the legal framework for returning some rights to users, according to the desire of the creator/rights holder.
The Creative Commons licensing schema is made up of four elements that creators can mix and match to create the licensing conditions of their choice. These elements are:
- Attribution (users must credit the rights-holder)
- Non-commercial (users must not use the item for commercial gain)
- No-derivatives (users may not make changes to the item)
- Share-alike (users may make changes but must maintain the original licensing conditions for all derivative works)
For more information on licenses, visit the Creative Commons website, check out this useful bookmark-shaped infographic on CC licenses, and watch this brief YouTube video explaining CC licenses.
Fair Use
In order to facilitate education and other activities that promote the public good, there are rules providing exceptions to the copyright that are collectively known as the “fair use exception”. Fair use is not a hard-and-fast rule, but a set of criteria that are used in the event of a legal challenge to determine if a specific usage of a specific item is permissible. These criteria are:
- Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
- Nature of the copyrighted work
- Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
- Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
Attributions
Attribution, that is, providing credit to the creator or rights holder, is the basic element of all Creative Commons licenses. The preferred format for attributions is to include the work’s title, author, source, and license. This is sometimes known as the “TASL” format. For detailed information on how to appropriately credit works, visit the Creative Commons Wiki page on recommended practices for attribution.
Fair Use Attributions
- Name the Item
- Name the Author
- Describe the Purpose of Your Use
- Affirm the Copyright
Sample attributions:
Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez is used for educational purposes only. All rights to this image are held by the Museo Nacional del Prado.
