Open licencing is a strategy for encouraging the public's right to freely copy, share, modify and improve creative works and modified versions of those works. An open licence describes any method that utilizes the copyright system to achieve these goals.

Open licencing as a concept is usually implemented in the details of a specific copyright licence, such as the Creative Commons Attribution Licence or the GNU General Public Licence, that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution with no or limited restrictions. Copyright holders of creative works can choose these licences for their own works to build communities that collaboratively share and improve their creative works.

Open licences support creators that want to share their works freely, and allow other users more flexibility to reuse and share the creators’ works. Specific benefits include:

• Allowing others to distribute the work freely, which in turn promotes wider circulation than if an individual or group retained the exclusive right to distribute;
• Reducing or eliminating the need for others to ask for permission to use or share the work, which can be time consuming, especially if the work has many authors;
• Encouraging others to continuously improve and add value to the work; and
• Encouraging others to create new works based on the original work - e.g. translations, adaptations, or works with a different scope or focus.

OER are typically licensed under an open licensing system, with the most popular being the Creative Commons (CC) (Opens in a new window) licensing system.

Attribution:

Text is a derivative of Guide to Open Licensing, -opens in a new window by Open Knowledge International, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Definition of copyleft is a derivative of What is Copyleft? - opens in a new window, by Copyleft.org, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

More on Creative Commons Licenses...

What is Copyright? Copyright is the right to copy. The Canadian Copyright Act grants rights to the creators of works giving them the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, distribute or sell their works.

Who Owns The Copyright in a Work?

The copyright owner is most often the author or creator of the work. A creator could be an author, artist, musician, photographer, etc. If the work is created in the course of employment, the employer holds the copyright.

What are Moral Rights?

Only the copyright owner has the right to decide when and how their work is copied. In addition, these rights include moral rights. Moral rights include:

The right of association including:

• The right to remain anonymous
• The right to use a pseudonym
• The right to have one's name associated with the work

The right of integrity including:

• The right to prevent the work from being used in such a way as to prejudice the creator’s reputation
• The right to ensure the work will not be distorted, modified or mutilated, or used in association with a product or company to the detriment of the creator’s honour or reputation

For Seneca's Copyright Policy click here: https://www.senecapolytechnic.ca/about/policies/copyright-policy.html

Image: copyright by Stefan Parnarov from the Noun Project