Creative Commons
Creative Commons have a suite of copyright licences which allow you to grant a range of permissions over your work. The tools on the website offer authors and institutions a simple and standardised way to grant copyright permissions to their creative works.
The licences allow authors and creators to retain copyright while allowing others to copy, distribute, and make some uses of their work. Every CC licence ensures that licensors get credit for their work and lasts as long as copyright lasts.
For more information about the licences visit the Creative Commons website.
How to Label Third Party Content in Creative Commons Licensed Material
Having third party copyright works, such as images and diagrams included in your book or journal article is no bar to releasing the publication under a Creative Commons licence. However, you must prominently mark or indicate in a notice that this content is excluded from the Creative Commons licence you are applying to your own work.
Labelling third party content
There are two ways in which you can notify potential users that certain content is excluded from the licence you are applying. Either or both may be used, depending on the circumstances.
1. Giving a notice next to third party content
This involves marking or notating all third party content. To do this you should indicate directly underneath the content.
In addition to citing the source of copyright material, it is best practice to include the following information as well:
- The owner of the copyright
- The terms of use for the content
- How you are allowed to reproduce the content (whether that be through direct permission from the copyright owner, through a Creative Commons licence or through an exception in the Copyright Act).
Examples
Example: Direct permission from the copyright owner to use content
‘Johnson, M 2019, How to label third party content. Copyright owned by University of Auckland, NZ, all rights reserved, used with permission.’
Example: Material licensed under Creative Commons
'Smith, J 2014, How to label third party content, copyright NSW Department of Education & Communities, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
Example:
‘Aufderheide, P & Jaszi, P, 2011, Reclaiming Fair Use Copyright University of Chicago, Copied under fair dealing for criticism and review.’
2. Giving a general notice listing all third party content
This involves giving a general notice that identifies all third party content. This notice would usually be included in your terms of use or copyright statement for a website or in the verso page or bibliography for a work.
This notice should specifically identify all third party content. This can be done by listing all the third party content specifically or, where possible, listing material based on content type.
Example: Listing all the third party content
‘All material on this website[or publication], except as identified below, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
Material that is not licenced under a Creative Commons licence is:
- University of Auckland Coat of Arms
- Material protected by a trade mark
- Logo
- Photographs on pages 4, 5 and 6
- Poem on page 2
- [Etc]
All content not licensed under a Creative Commons licence is all rights reserved, and you must request permission from the copyright owner to use this material.’
Example: Identifying third party content by content type
‘All text on this website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
All images are all rights reserved, and you must request permission from the copyright owner to use this material.’
3. Giving a general notice and a notice next to third party content
This involves giving a general notice that indicates any third party content will be identified, and then identifying the third party content within the website/work.
This general notice would usually be included in your terms of use or copyright statement for a website or in the verso page or bibliography for a work.
Example: General notice for a website
‘Copyright material available on this website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
Example: General notice for a document
‘Except as otherwise noted, this [insert name of content] is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
Then next to all third party content you can include a notice regarding the relevant copyright owner and the material’s terms of use and, where possible, the licence or permission you’ve received from the copyright owner.
Example: Direct permission from the copyright owner to use content
‘‘Johnson, M 2019, How to label third party content. Copyright owned by University of Auckland, NZ, all rights reserved, used with permission.’
Example: Material licensed under Creative Commons
‘Smith, J 2014, How to label third party content, © NSW Department of Education & Communities, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.’
Example: Material copied pursuant to third party licence
‘Aufderheide, P & Jaszi, P, 2011, Reclaiming Fair Use Copyright University of Chicago, Copied under Copyright Licensing New Zealand licence for teaching purposes only.’
With whatever method you choose, the most important thing is that you clearly and effectively identify third party material.
The content on this page has been adapted from “How to Label Third Party Content in Creative Commons Licensed Material, Smartcopying: The Official Guide to Copyright Issues for Australian Schools and TAFE under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0.