Access, Author Rights, and Agreements 1: Which Creative Commons License Works the Best for an Author?
— by Chloe Ng
As illustrated in the previous blog post (Open Access in Progress: An Overview of Participation of HKU Authors in Open Access Publishing), more and more HKU authors are publishing their research outputs open access. When an author submits manuscripts to journal publishers, one of the important decisions to make is selecting an appropriate license for the work. Not only does the choice of license restrict how others can use the research outputs, but it also impacts the author’s rights and control over their own work.
Creative Commons Licenses
Creative Commons licenses (CC licenses) are commonly used open licenses that “give everyone a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law” (Creative Commons, n.d.). Excluding CC0, there are six CC license options. They tell the end-users what they can do with the work.
CC0
CC0 is a public dedication tool, which enables creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain.
CC BY
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
CC BY-SA
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
CC BY-NC
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
NC: Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted.
CC BY-NC-SA
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
NC: Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted.
SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
CC BY-ND
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
CC BY-NC-ND
BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
NC: Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted.
ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
More restrictive licenses, such as CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-ND, may seem appealing at first glance, as they appear to limit the commercial use of the work and protect the researchers’ interests. However, before jumping to conclusions, we must first examine the details of the License to Publish (LTP) agreements.
License to Publish (LTP) Agreements
When authors submit their manuscripts, some publishers require them to sign an LTP that transfers all copyright exclusively to the publishers. In some cases, even when a “non-commercial” license type is chosen, the author would be transferring the reserved commercial rights to the publishers, thereby limiting the author’s control over their own work (DEAL Konsortium, 2024). The publisher would then have the exclusive and sole right to use the research output commercially, while the author retain copyright in name only. Being unaware of copyright and the agreement terms, authors may unwittingly grant all publication and distribution rights to the publishers while restricting their own uses.
Below is an example of license terms in a publishing agreement for articles published open access with a non-commercial user license (CC BY-NC-ND) with Elsevier.
Each author hereby grants to Journal Owner …
Excerpted from Elsevier’s sample publishing agreement for articles published open access with a non-commercial user license (CC BY-NC-ND) in English. Retrieved 11 November 2024. https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/copyright#2-publishing-agreements.
c) the exclusive right to license third parties to exercise all or any of the rights granted herein for commercial purposes; and
d) the right to enforce the rights granted herein against third parties.
Terms and conditions may vary depending on the choice of license. Springer Nature describes copyright and author rights for open access articles as follows.
Authors … grant non-exclusive rights to Springer Nature where a CC BY licence is selected, or exclusive commercial and derivative rights where CC BY-NC-ND is chosen.
Excerpted from Springer Nature’s guide to licensing, copyright and author rights for journal articles. Retrieved 11 November 2024. https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-science/policies/journal-policies/licensing-and-copyright.
Choosing the Right License
In the case of an exclusive LTP agreement, CC Licenses with the “non-commercial” (NC) addition can lead authors to inadvertently sign away their economic rights. Authors are advised to read through the terms and conditions that specify whether the author retains any rights, and which uses are allowed by the new copyright holder. Open licensing policies shall be carefully examined too. For example, CC BY would offers more freedom to reuse the work than CC BY-NC-ND, which is also more aligned with open access principles. E.g., The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) indicates that the right holders of open access contributions should grant to all users a license to re-use and adopt the works for any responsible purpose. Being aware of the terms of LTP agreements and the implications of various CC licenses, authors can better protect their rights while maximizing the accessibility of their research.
References
Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. (2003). Retrieved 26 November 2024 from https://openaccess.mpg.de/Berlin-Declaration
Creative Commons. (n.d.). About CC licenses. Retrieved 26 November 2024 from https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/
DEAL Konsortium. (2024, October 8). Unlocking the full potential of your research, choose CC by!. https://deal-konsortium.de/en/why-ccby
Disclaimer: The information and materials provided in this post are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.
