Open Fredonia Toolkit

Most OER are released under Creative Commons (CC) licenses, which explicitly allow for uses beyond those typically allowed under copyright law.

In essence, CC flips the traditional copyright model, in which all rights are reserved except those expressly granted. Instead, under CC all rights are granted except those expressly reserved.

CC materials do not reside in the public domain; the creator still retains legal ownership of the work. However, unlike traditionally copyrighted materials, all CC materials may legally be redistributed to anyone, at any time, indefinitely.

In addition, most CC materials can be revised and remixed before being redistributed. The exact permissions allowed for a particular work depend upon what CC license is applied to it.

If you are applying a CC license to work you created, the Creative Commons license page can help you choose which license is right for you.

It will also give you language to use to apply the license.

When using material from a CC-licensed work, your must include a citation that includes the title of the work, the author (if known), the source URL, and the CC license applied.

Example citation:
"Exit Sign" by David King (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Contrary to popular belief, fair use is not a law. Rather, it is a judicial doctrine that guides courts in how to apply copyright law. As a result, fair use allowances for educational use are much narrower than commonly believed.

To quote the open access journal PLOS: "Don't assume that you can use any content you find on the Internet, or that the content is fair game just because it isn't clear who the owner is or what license applies."

To accommodate the fair use doctrine, Reed Library suggests that copies of traditionally copyrighted (i.e., non-CC) materials may be used in a course for one semester.

For longform works, such as books, up to 10% of the total work may be uploaded. Use of such copies for three or more semesters would violate these guidelines.

However, linking to the original source of a resource is always acceptable.

For instance, a link to a New York Times article on NYTimes.com is acceptable indefinitely. Reed Library suggests using a PDF scanned from the Times for only two semesters.

By the same token, a link to an article in one of the Library's databases is acceptable indefinitely. Reed Library suggests using PDF of an article obtained through interlibrary loan for only two semesters.

If you need help with linking directly to Library resources, such as articles, eJournals, and eBooks, see our guide to creating static links.

If you have any questions about copyright law, please contact Kerrie Fergen Wilkes in Reed Library.