CC adventures

You find yourself in a part of the stacks in the library where you've never been before. There's hardly any light. There's only one faulty lightbulb, and you can't even hear the echo of footsteps anymore. [[You wonder where am I exactly? Why haven't I ever been to this part of the library before?]]

You turn to the copyright page and instead of the usual copyright logo, you instead see a CC license. [[Wait, what? What's CC mean? Enough with the acronyms...]] [[Okay, but what kind of CC license? Geez, let's get on with it already]]

[[You run you finger down the text.]]

CC stands for Creative Commons. Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, “What can I do with this work?” (https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/) [[You run you finger down the text.]]

You know that means that this license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY includes the following elements: BY – Credit must be given to the creator [[Okay, maybe you didn't know that before, but now you do...]]

You know that means this license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects. (https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/) [[Let's be honest. You weren't really sure...]]

You know this means this license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. (https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/) [[Wait, you didn't know that?]]

You know this means this license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. (https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/) [[It's okay to admit you didn't know that already.]]

You know that means that this license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. (https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/) [[Okay, you had no idea, but now you do.]]

[[You distribute copies to your students, but make sure to include the original CC BY license on all copies.]]

[[You open it to find it's an OER textbook.]]

[[Good, exactly what you were looking for.]] [[You toss it aside. What's an OER textbook anyway?]]

You were taught to treat books better than that, now weren't you? [[You pick it up and dust off the cover.]]

You find it has [[a CC BY license]] [[a CC BY-SA license]] [[a CC BY-ND license]] [[a CC BY-NC license]] [[a CC BY-NC-SA license]] [[a CC BY-NC-ND license]]

Open educational resources (O.E.R.) are teaching and learning materials freely available for everyone to use. They are typically openly-licensed to allow for re-use and modification by instructors. (https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/oerresources/) [[You realize the error of your ways and the value of this tome.]]

[[Great! you think to yourself. This textbook fit my needs and my students' needs exactly.]] [[Hmmmm, you scratch your head. This isn't quite what I need but with a some adapting this could work...]]

[[You decide to use parts of the chapters in the text and then add some of your own work as well.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[And you rejoice, too, because you've found the perfect text at no cost to you or your students.]]

[[Congrats, you're ready to start the semester off right.]]

made by Kel R. Karpinski Ursula C. Schwerin Library New York City College of Technology 2020 <img src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/buttons/88x31/png/by-nc-sa.png"</img>

[[But you don't forget to add that CC-BY license to the work by the original author to make sure they are properly credited.]]

[[You think about what kind of license you want your own work to have.]]

Once you've decided, you feel relieved. You distribute copies of the text to your students. [[Your students rejoice!]]

But now that you do. [[You realize this textbook is good go as is.]] [[You think you'd like to make some changes to the text and adapt it to better suit the needs of your course.]]

[[You make sure to keep the CC BY-SA license on all copies as you distribute it to your students.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[You make sure the original text has the CC BY-SA to credit the author, and you give your work the CC BY-SA license as well, as stipulated by the original license.]]

[[You're ready to make the text available to your students.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[You scan the call numbers on the shelf and finally find the book you're looking for.]]

[[You were hoping to be able to adapt it...]] [[This text is great as is.]]

[[You go to the reference desk to see if they might know of other OER books.]]

[[You make copies for your students and make sure to include the original CC BY-NC-ND license to credit the author.]]

[[The librarian there points you toward another OER book.]]

[[You're a pro at this now.]]

[[You run you finger down the text.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[That's okay. Let's just pretend like you did. Now you know.]]

[[Great! This text is ready to go as is.]] [[You were hoping to be able to adapt it...]]

[[You make the necessary changes.]]

[[You make copies available for your students.]]

[[But first! You make sure to include the CC BY-ND license on all copies to credit the author.]]

Upon learning that their text is free, [[Your students rejoice!]]

[[It's great to learn new things! It's not just our students who are learning.]]

[[You think you'd like to use the text as is.]] [[You think this would be a great opportunity to build upon the text to make a richer experience for your students.]]

[[You make copies for your students and include the original CC BY-NC license to credit the author.]]

[[After you've done this, you add the CC BY-NC license to the original material.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[You think about what kind of license you might want for your own work.]]

Once you've decided on a license, [[you make copies of the text available for your students.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[Okay, even if you did, you're ready now.]]

[[You think this text looks good to me as is.]] [[You're excited to adapt and modify this text to suit the needs of your course!]]

[[You make copies available for your students and make sure to include the original CC BY-NC-SA license to credit the author.]]

[[You make the changes, and you're ready to distribute to your students.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]

[[Did you remember to include the CC BY-NC-SA license on the original work you used?]]

Oh, good. [[What about on the work you adapted and modified?]]

[[You make sure you've also used the original CC BY-NC-SA license on all adapted and modified work as well as stipulated by the license.]]

[[Now you make it available to your students.]]

[[Your students rejoice!]]