Open Educational Resources at MDC: Overview: Copyright & CC Licensing

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright and enable you to modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs.

• Things to Consider Before Licensing Your Work

  Outlines things to think about before applying Creative Commons license to your material, or use Creative Commons-licensed materials.
• Choose A License

  Contains information on how to choose the appropriate license for your work.
• Marking Your Work with CC License

  Learn how to mark your work with a Creative Commons license.
• Best Practices for Attribution

  Provides some good (and not so good) examples of attribution.
• Open Attribution Builder

  Easily cite open materials. This tool will automatically generate the attribution for you.

Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Criteria

  Not sure exactly what fair use means? The U.S. Copyright Office outlines the situations and uses that qualify as fair use.
• Fair Use Evaluation

  Wondering if your use of copyrighted material qualifies as fair use? Enter your information into this tool and it will help you decide. If you don't understand fair use, complete the informational module.
• Fair Use Checklist

  Use this printable sheet to evaluate your use of materials to determine if it is fair use. The list comes from Columbia University.

Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution states:

"The Congress shall have power...To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries..."

Copyright for Course Reserves