Copyright: understand and apply correctly

Even if educational material has been published under so-called "free" CC licenses, you still have to make sure that the correct details of the respective authors are given!

Practical tips

1. check before using other educational material, under which license (see below) it has been published and which acts of use these licenses allow

2. note that images and graphics are not always under the same license as the rest of the content of a resource.

3. even in the case of material published without mentioning the licence, which means that the author reserves all rights, at least quotation is allowed. You can then include text excerpts or illustrations in your own teaching materials, provided that the author and source are indicated.

OER and copyright in Germany

On the OERinfo website on the subject of law (Thema Recht), you will find the most important information on the use of OER and the creation of your own free educational materials in Germany. High-quality publications, online dossiers, assistance and checklists on the subject of CC licenses and copyright have been compiled here for you.

What is the Creative Commons?

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organisation that offers authors a ready-made licence agreement for the use of their materials by others. Through these so-called CC licenses, authors can determine the conditions under which other users may use their materials.

CC Licenses

To find out what to look out for in CC-licensed materials and how you can use them for your teaching, watch this overview video of the OER platform TheOrangeGrowth from Florida. If you want to reuse materials that are under different CC licenses, the CC Mixer can help you to check if the combination is allowed.

Avoid mistakes during reuse

To avoid copyright infringements a complete indication of origin is indispensable. To be on the safe side, always indicate the author(s) name(s), the corresponding license (incl. link to the license text) and, if possible, a link to the original work. It is also recommended to indicate the title and origin.