TOU Open License Overview

Licenses or terms of use explain what you are legally allowed to do with a given resource.

Terms of Use that Allow Anyone To Use, Copy, and Adapt

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License: Lets others copy, distribute, display, and perform the copyrighted work-and derivative works based upon it-but only if they give credit the way the author requests. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial (CC BY NC) License: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge the author and be non-commercial, they don't have to license their derivative works on the same terms. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/.

Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike (CC BY SA) License: Lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. All new works based on the original will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.

Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial - Share Alike (CC BY NC SA) License: Lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute they work, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new materials based on the work. All new work based on the original will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be noncommercial in nature. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.

GNU Free Documentation License (GNU-FDL): The GNU Free Documentation License is a form of copyleft intended for use on a manual, textbook or other document to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifications, either commercially or non-commercially. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html.

Creative Commons Zero Waiver (CC0): The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.

Public Domain - U.S. Federal Government Works (PD-GOV): This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Foreign copyrights may apply. http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml.

Public Domain: This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

Terms of Use that Allow Anyone to Use or Copy but Prohibit Excerpts or Content Modifications

Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivatives (CC BY ND) License: This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the author. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/.

Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivatives (CC BY NC ND) License: This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download the works and share them with others as long as they credit the author, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Terms of Use that May or May Not Allow Limited Use, Copies, and Adaptation

Some resources have a custom license, which means you have to read the fine print to determine how you are allowed to use it.

Terms of Use that Prohibit Copies and Adaptation

If you come a resource online that does not list any copyright information or that says “All Rights Reserved,” then you cannot copy, translate, or modify the resource without the permission of the author. You may share a link to the resource with others. You may download to your computer but only for your personal use.