FAQ Copyright, Creative Commons & OER

Even if works are found freely online, they are generally copyright protected and cannot be distributed without the consent of the authors. (A label like the © symbol or a text note such as “All rights reserved” is not needed to indicate that the content is protected.)
Open licences allow for the use, adaptation and distribution of copyright protected material without having to check with the authors. This is particularly crucial if you want to publish your materials, for example:

• at conferences
• in MOOCs on edX or Swiss MOOC Service
• in videos for YouTube or Kaltura Mediaspace
• in academic publications or theses or
• on social media and blogs.

The list of Creative Commons provides a very good compilation of search tools available for a wide variety of media types and educational materials.

OER from German universities and beyond can be found at OERSI.org.

X5GON Discovery is an international OER search index.

Which CC licences you are allowed to combine in a work depends on whether the works remain clearly distinguishable from one another or are inseparably merged to produce a new work. A differentiation is made between the following:

1 a) Compilation of third-party materials

• Several CC-licensed works are compiled in a collection in which they are clearly distinguished from each other and published (e.g. as a reader).
• The compilation does not get its own licence.
• You are allowed to combine all CC licences.

1 b) Integration of materials within your own contents

• You integrate CC-licensed works in your own contents in a clearly distinguishable manner (e.g. as part of a PowerPoint presentation).
• Your work is given a licence of your choice or no licence.
• You are allowed to combine all CC licences.

2. Merging

• CC-licensed works are merged to create a new complete work in which the individual components can no longer be distinguished (e.g. in a video).
• Not all CC-licensed materials can be combined.
• It is not permitted to use CC-BY-ND materials.
• The licence for the complete work is based on the licence of the included work with the strongest restriction (combination of CC-BY and CC-BY-SA: the new work is assigned a CC-BY-SA licence).
  See also the licence compatibility chart

To comply with the licensing requirements of CC-BY licences, attribute the used materials according to the TULLU rule (referred to as TALLO in English). Include the:

• Title
• Author
• Licence
• Link to the licence
• Origin (link)
• (Adaptations you have made).

Example:
How to read an academic journal article? by Charlotte Hartwright (as at 5 April 2017) under CC BY 4.0, video shortened and adapted with interactive content by Pascal Meier / ZHAW, Social Work (as at 28 April 2023)

Wherever possible, place the licence designation directly at the materials used (e.g., underneath the image). If this isn’t possible, the reference should be made as close to the work as possible (e.g., attribution list at the end of a video). The order in which the details are entered does not matter. Citations in academic texts can, for example, also follow common citation styles if all of the aforementioned details are provided in the citation. Further information: Information sheet on CC licences and publishing OER at the ZHAW. See also the "Best practices for attribution" page for further details.

TALLO refers to a rule for the labelling of openly licensed works as follows:

T: Title
A: Author
L: Licence
L: Link to the licence text
O: Origin (link)

Where possible, also state:

• date of publication of the original
• (Type and date of the adaptations you have made).

Example:
How to read an academic journal article? by Charlotte Hartwright (as at 5 April 2017) under CC BY 4.0, video shortened and adapted with interactive content by Pascal Meier / ZHAW, Social Work (as at 28 April 2023)

The order in which the details are entered does not matter. Citations in academic texts can, for example, also follow common citation styles if all of the aforementioned details are provided in the citation.

The order in which you provide the information does not matter. Citations in academic texts can, for example, also follow common citation styles if all of the elements required under the TALLO rule are provided in the citation:

T: Title
A: Author
L: Licence
L: Link to the licence text
O: Origin (link).

CC0 licences and other licences of free image databases like Pixabay, Pexels, or Unsplash do not require copyright attribution. Nevertheless, it is advisable to name the source and a link to the original.

• This way, you can prove the origin of the material in case a warning.
• You do not make the third-party material your own by circulating it under your own name.

The license condition "Non Commercial" is not as easy at it looks at first glance.

• - MOOCs that offer a paid certificate.
• - Platforms that are themselves commercial or advertise (such as YouTube or blogs.

The ZHAW Open Educational Resources (OER) Policy recommends that all employees publish teaching materials under an open licence.

Nevertheless, please consider the FaHG law governing the Zurich universities of applied sciences and arts (§16 (1)(b)) in which it is specified that the rights of use for copyright protected works that you create in performing your official activities lie with the university. While the rights of use remain with the ZHAW upon publishing such a work under a CC licence, a corresponding order or permission from your line manager is still required. For reasons of proof, you should keep the written confirmation of consent (e.g. e-mail).

Please also be sure to consider the personal rights of the depicted individuals who must provide their written consent to publication under a CC licence.

Here, you can find the Checklist: OERs – from planning to publication (in German only), which also covers co-authorships and the use of third-party materials.

The ZHAW Open Educational Resources (OER) Policy recommends licensing under:

• CC-BY or
• CC-BY-SA.

If you would like to specify further restrictions (non-commercial, no adaptation), use the CC licence chooser to determine your licence. The license chooser guides you step by step through queries to the right Creative Commons license for your needs.

You can then download the Creative Commons license icon and apply it to your work. This alone is needed to put the work under a Creative Commons license and thus publish it as OER. It is not necessary to register your work with Creative Commons or anything the like. The use of Creative Commons licenses is free of charge.

You can download all CC icons here free of charge and without having to register and subsequently use them.

If you have the option to integrate an HTML code into your work (e.g. in a website, a blog or on Github etc.), download and integrate the CC icon as HTML code from the license chooser for machine readability.

A licence cannot be revoked if a work has already been distributed by others under this licence.
Even if you would like to remove a licence or remove CC-licensed material from the network, the licence remains valid in the material that has already been distributed by others. This means that a CC-licensed work can continue to be distributed in the network even after having been removed from the network by the author.

If you distribute materials yourself that are under a CC licence, you cannot subsequently be prohibited from making use of these.

CC-licensed works remain copyright protected. They may only be distributed within the scope of the licence conditions. This means, for example, that correct attribution is required for the use of CC-licensed works.

Always adhere to the licence requirements in order to ensure you do not breach copyright when using CC-licensed material.

Video: Using images under a free licence – common errors and how to avoid them (in German only)