Unsure which CC license is right for your work? Creative Commons' License Chooser tool will help you select the best license for your needs.
Fair Use gives users the right to use copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances. If a use is Fair, the user need not notify or seek permission from the copyright holder. The PSU Fair Use Analysis Checklist to help analyze whether a use of a copyrighted work could be a Fair Use. PSU's page on Fair Use provides detailed explanation and guidance for all four factors of fair use.
Most OER are licensed using a Creative Commons (CC) license, which allows creators to choose exactly how their work can be used and reused. Since OER offer free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5 Rs (retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute), it's important to tell others exactly how they can and cannot use the OER you've created. Similarly, if you're adopting or adapting existing OER, you should identify the license, so that you understand how the resource you're using can be used.
CC licenses work in tandem with copyright. An author can retain copyright and license their work with a CC license that lets others know how that work can be used without requesting permission.
For OER adapters and authors, The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources provides helpful guidance, including descriptions, hard cases, principles, and considerations for fair uses of materials in open educational resources with respect to United States copyright law..
