5 Licences and Permissions
When You Can Use the Work of Others
This section offers an overview of what content you can include in your open resource and in what contexts. We give a brief introduction to copyright as it functions in Canada, discuss how open licences work, and then get into the options and limitations around including content that is not openly licensed. This includes guidelines around the following:
- Linking to external sources
- Embedding media (i.e., videos, audio)
- Fair dealing as it applies to direct quotes and poetry
- Getting permission to include all rights reserved content
Copyright
Copyright is the legal framework protecting the intellectual property of creative works. In Canada, copyright is defined under the Copyright Act. There are a few important things to keep in mind about copyright in Canada:
- Only the copyright holder has permission to distribute and adapt a work.
- The copyright holder is usually the author/creator of a work, but not always.
- Copyright protection is automatic. It is not something you have to apply for.
- If others want to use, share, or adapt the work, they need to get permission or a licence from the copyright holder that specifies the terms of use.
For more information, see Copyright and Open Licences in the Self-Publishing Guide.
Open Licences
Open licences are how copyright holders let the world know that they are okay with people taking, reusing, and adapting their creative works. Note that the creator maintains the copyright for their original work: the open licence simply means that they give others permission to use the work as well. These licences specify exactly what others are allowed to do with the work and in what contexts without needing to contact the copyright holder to ask permission.
As a general rule, only openly licensed content or content that is in the public domain may be included in an open resource.
If you’re not sure whether the content you want to use is openly licensed, read Resources: Only the Open in the Self-Publishing Guide.
Creative Commons Licences
Creative Commons licences are probably the most common open licences that you will encounter. There are seven licences in total, which come with different combinations of restrictions:
- Attribution: This requires you to attribute (give credit to) the original creator.
- ShareAlike: This requires you to use the same licence for any work that you create based on their original work.
- NonCommercial: This restricts you from profiting off of their work.
- NoDerivatives: This restricts you from making any changes to their work.
To learn more about each of the seven licences, read About CC Licences.
Other Open Licences
There are many other open licences that you may come across:
- Openly licensed stock image collections often have their own site-specific open licences. This includes Pixabay and Pexels.
- The Government of Canada has its own open licence: Open Government Licence – Canada.
- Open source software generally