Licenses play an important role in open access publishing, as open publishing means more than just making documents freely available online. Open licenses are required in order to reuse research results and other content as flexibly and transparently as possible. Creative Commons (CC) licenses are a well-known and widespread example of this. You can find the following information on this page:
- What are CC licenses?
- Why CC licenses?
- Which CC license should I choose?
- License modules
- License models
- Classification of CC licenses
- Frequently asked questions
- Links
What are CC licenses?
CC licenses are ready-made license agreements that regulate the use of materials such as fonts and images by persons other than the actual authors. They are offered by Creative Commons, a non-profit organization founded in the USA in 2001. The combination of the individual license modules and their application regulates aspects such as the reproduction, distribution and modification of a work. CC licenses can be used free of charge and integrated into electronic documents in a machine-readable format. A CC license can only be granted if the publication is not subject to any other rights of subsequent use (such as those stipulated in publishing contracts).
Why CC licenses?
With CC licenses, authors themselves have the opportunity to determine the conditions under which their works can be used instead of transferring their rights of use exclusively to a publisher, as was the case in the past. If a license is not granted, the free exchange of information can be prevented, as this leads to legal restrictions on the use of works. With CC licenses, authors give other people the opportunity to reuse their own works under certain conditions without having to explicitly ask for permission. There are a total of six available licenses.
Which CC license should I choose?
The Alliance of German Science Organizations and cOAlition S recommend the Creative-Commons-CC-BY license for scientific publications. This license is the freest option, offering maximum reuse possibilities for your work and ensuring that you are recognized as the author of the original.
This says:
The TUHH University Library also recommends the CC BY 4.0 license in particular, as it is in line with the Berlin Open Access Declaration, the Budapest Open Access Initiative and the FAIR principles. If you have to choose a CC license for your research, we ask you to always choose the CC BY 4.0 license if possible, as this largely avoids legal uncertainties in the distribution and subsequent use of your works (see also section “Classification of CC licenses”).
Further information on the various licenses can be found in the “License models” section.
License modules
CC licenses directly indicate how content can be used and under what restrictions. They are based on a modular principle that comprises four basic modules. These modules cover various aspects of copyright law and can be combined with each other to enable the most accurate license selection possible:
| Symbol | Abbr. | Requirement | Module description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | BY | Attribution (Namensnennung) | The name of the original author must be listed as specified by the author. |
 | NC | Non-commercial (nicht kommerziell) | Further use is only permitted in a non-commercial context. |
 | ND | No derivatives (keine Bearbeitung) | The work must remain complete. Changes are excluded. |
 | SA | Share Alike (Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen) | New works created after an adaptation must be published under the same conditions as the original work. |
License models
The four CC modules result in six different license models, each with its own license description.
| 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. |
Classification of CC licenses
The most open license after CC0 is CC BY. With this license, it is only necessary to state the license and the name of the author in the event of subsequent use. Ideally, links should be used. There are no further restrictions on subsequent use, and changes to the material are also permitted. The CC BY SA license is also an open license. Anyone who edits content with this license may only redistribute the new work under the same license conditions.
Less recommendable with regard to the distribution of openly licensed content are licenses where the selected modules interfere particularly strongly with the reuse options. These include the restrictive “ND” and “NC” modules in particular. In principle, more complex CC licenses can have a negative impact on the distribution and use of content, as they are more difficult to understand and sometimes unintentionally prevent usage scenarios that authors did not want to exclude.
The illustration shows the permitted applications on the left and the corresponding license modules on the right. The dark green area highlights the fact that these are particularly compatible licenses for free and reusable content. With increasing complexity and more restrictive license modules, the possibility of reuse decreases, which is also highlighted in color.
Frequently asked questions
For scholarly publications, we generally recommend CC BY 4.0, provided there are no legal or contractual reasons preventing it.
Die Lizenz CC BY (Creative Commons Namensnennung) gilt als Standard für Open Access und wird von der TU Hamburg sowie vielen Forschungsförderern empfohlen. Sie bietet Ihnen und anderen zahlreiche Vorteile:
- Maximum visibility for your research: Others may share, cite, translate, adapt, or build upon your work—including for new research or teaching purposes. The only requirement is that you are credited as the author. This increases the reach and impact of your research.
- Clear rules for reuse: CC BY clearly defines what is permitted. This provides legal certainty and facilitates the lawful use of your publication in academia, teaching, and professional practice.
- Commercial use is permitted for everyone: Commercial use is also allowed—but always on the condition that your name is credited. While this may seem unusual at first, it prevents individual companies or organizations from deriving exclusive benefits from your publication. Since everyone has the same rights of use, no one can establish a monopoly on the exploitation of your freely accessible work.
- Meets the requirements of many funding organizations: CC BY complies with the principles of major open-access initiatives, such as the Berlin Declaration, and is expressly recommended or required by numerous research funders and academic institutions.
In short: With CC BY, your authorship is preserved at all times, while your research can be found, used, and further developed as easily as possible. This promotes the visibility of your scientific work and supports the open exchange of knowledge.
Yes. CC BY 4.0 is the recommended license for the digital publication of your dissertation. However, before any publication, you must ensure that you have clarified the rights for all content. For example, if you wish to include content that you have previously published as a journal article.
Depending on the data type, either CC BY 4.0 or CC0 may be appropriate. We would be happy to advise you on this matter.
A license that has already been granted generally cannot be revoked with respect to individuals who have already received the work. However, you may choose a different license for future publications.
Yes, provided that you comply with the applicable license terms.
Links
- What we do (Creative Commons)
- “Licence Chooser” (Creative Commons)
- Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians, and Open Culture (Creative Commons)
- Open Content Guide in German und English (Dr. Till Kreutzer)
- Dossier Creative Commons (iRights info)
- Open Content Licences (open-access.network)
- Which CC license is right for me? (Jöran Muuß-Merholz)