#OAWeek2024: Why CC BY is the best choice for open access publications

Open access not only means that scientific publications are freely accessible online, but also that they can be reused flexibly and transparently. This can be ensured by issuing open licenses. A well-known and widespread example: Creative Commons (CC) licenses. CC licenses provide a legal framework to regulate the use of content by third parties. For the optimal reuse of your own research results, it is crucial that you choose the right license.

Which CC license is the best choice?

Both the Alliance of German Science Organizations and the cOAlition S recommend the Creative Commons CC BY (attribution) licence for scientific publications. The University Library (TUB) of Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) has also been recommending the CC BY license for many years, as it is in line with the Berlin Open Access Declaration, the Budapest Open Access Initiative and the FAIR principles.

The license states:

In a current information campaign, the DEAL consortium once again recommends the CC BY license to maximize the visibility and reach of scientific publications. The text emphasizes that this license minimizes legal uncertainties in the distribution and use of works more than non-commercial licenses (NC licenses) do. Furthermore, the latter hinders not only the basic principles of open access. There is also the problem of publishers using a license such as CC BY-NC to secure exclusive exploitation rights in order to resell content to AI providers, for example.

In comparison with other CC licenses, CC BY offers the most reuse options. At the same time, this license guarantees the recognition of authorship.

Advantages of the CC BY license

The DEAL consortium’s information campaign also discusses the clear advantages of CC BY for open access publications in detail. According to the information material, for example:

• Maximized reuse and dissemination:
  CC BY allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you. This maximizes the reach and impact of your research.

• Equal commercial use for all:
  Yes, CC BY does allow for commercial use, but it does so equally for everyone which serves as the best protection against exploitation by individual players.

• Alignment with key Open Access statements:
  CC BY is aligned with major Open Access declarations, such as the Berlin Declaration on Open Access. It is also the preferred license of many research funders and organizations worldwide.

• Legal clarity:
  CC BY provides clear and straightforward terms, reducing legal uncertainties and ensuring your work can be freely used and shared across various platforms and by diverse audiences.

In contrast to NC licenses, the CC BY license offers equal and open use for all, which is in line with the basic principles of open access.

Why not “Non-Commercial” (NC)?

The discussion also covers the disadvantages of licenses with a ‘non-commercial’ clause (NC). For example, it states:

• Exclusive commercial rights to publishers:
  While choosing a “non-commercial” license type excludes commercial uses, publishers usually require you to assign those reserved commercial rights to them via the license to publish agreement. Unfortunately, many publishers typically claim these rights exclusively, limiting your control over your own work.

• Commercial exploitation by publishers:
  Once publishers hold (exclusive) commercial rights, they can commercialize your research, including licensing it to AI companies or other commercial entities (including for commercial use), without your consent and without any revenue sharing.

• Not compatible with the Open Access definitions:
  NC licensed material is not “Open Access” per definition.

• Legal uncertainty:
  The definition of “non-commercial” is ambiguous under German law. This leads to considerable legal uncertainty as to whether the respective use is permitted. Very often, uses are excluded that the author does not actually want to prevent.

In summary, NC licenses exclude many desired uses without any significant advantage, which therefore does not correspond to a “real” open license.

What are CC licenses?

The non-profit organization Creative Commons offers ready-made license agreements known as Creative Commons licenses. With CC licenses, authors set the conditions under which others may use their works. At the same time, they retain the exclusive rights of use and do not have to assign these to a publisher. Users can easily incorporate the free licenses into electronic documents.

The four CC modules

The licenses are based on a modular principle consisting of four basic building blocks:

• BY (Attribution),
• NC (Non-Commercial),
• ND (No Derivatives),
• SA (Share Alike).

The six CC licenses

The combination of these blocks results in six CC licenses:

CC-License graphics	CC license description
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, remix, improve and build on the work. Commercial use is also permitted. The condition is that the original authors are named as indicated by them.
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, remix, improve and build on the work. Commercial use is also permitted. The condition for this is that the original authors are credited as stated by them and that the derived work is published under the same license.
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute and make the work publicly accessible. Commercial use is also permitted. The condition for this is that the original authors are named as indicated by them and that the work remains unchanged.
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, remix, improve and build upon the work. The condition for this is that the original authors are named as indicated by them and that the work is not used for commercial purposes.
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, remix, improve and build upon the work. The condition for this is that the original authors are named as stated by them, that the work is not used for commercial purposes and that the derived work is published under the same license.
	Interested parties may reproduce, distribute and make the work publicly accessible. The condition for this is that the original authors are named as stated by them, the work is not used for commercial purposes and the work remains unchanged.

You can find further details on the license modules and license models on the TUB service page on Creative Commons licenses.

Summary

The CC BY license is the best choice for open access publications. It offers maximum flexibility and reach. To promote the open exchange of knowledge, you should avoid more complex licenses with modules like ‘NC’ or ‘ND,’ as they can impose undesirable restrictions on the dissemination and use of your research.

We will be happy to advise you on Open Access

You can reach the Open Access team via mail openaccess@tuhh.de.

Please also feel free to take part in our Open Access consultation hours via Zoom (identification code: 190591) if you have questions regarding Open Access (every Friday from 10:00 am to 10:30 am).