Knowledge of copyright is essential for everyone who develops learning materials or is in the writing profession, particularly to avoid committing copyright infringement. With the emergence of OER, understanding copyright has become especially important, as you can use learning materials produced by others if they are made available under an open license.
Copyright is an exclusive, transferable right given by law to a creator/author for a fixed number of years to copy, print, publish, perform, film, record, or otherwise control the use of literary, musical, dramatic or artistic works. Copyright is a legal protection given to the original creator of a work, which may be in any form.
Over the last two decades, open-content licensing systems have been evolving and developing. Some were initially established to support the release of open software and expanded to support the licensing of open content others focus exclusively on either software or content. The following are some of the open licensing systems that you might encounter in your Internet searches, as- GNU General Public Licence (for software), GNU Free Documentation Licence (for manuals, texts), Open Publication Licence (content), Open Game Licence (computer games), Free Art Licence (art, images, graphics), Creative Commons (Content), etc.
In the area of OER, which focuses specifically on educational content, the Creative Commons licenses are the ones most extensively used. However, open education purists are quick to point out that not all Creative Commons licenses can be considered completely "open." We will discuss the Creative Commons license options and their degrees of openness.
The Creative Commons (CC) Licensing System-
In recent years, Creative Commons License (CC) has in education, become the most popular licensing system. Creative Commons has designed a collection of licenses to ensure a suitable license for sharing content under various conditions as-
| Condition | Symbol | Explanation |
| Attribution |  |
All CC licenses require that others who use your work in any way must attribute it– i.e., must reference the work, giving you credit for it– the way you request, but not in a way that suggests you endorse them or their use of the work. If they want to use your work without giving you credit or for endorsement purposes, they must first get your permission. |
| ShareAlike |  |
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify your work, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms. If they want to distribute modified works under other terms, they must get your permission first. |
| NonCommercia |  |
You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, modify (unless you have chosen NoDerivatives) and use your work for any purpose other than commercially. If they want to use your work commercially, they must get your permission first |
| NoDerivatives |  |
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only original copies of your work. If they want to modify your work, they must get your permission first. |
The most popular combinations of Creative Commons (CC) rights or conditions make are-
[1] Attribution (CC BY) 
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
[2] Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 
This license lets others remix, tweak and build upon your work, even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to "copyleft" free and open-source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and it is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
[3] Attribution- NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND) 
This license allows for redistribution commercial and non-commercial as long as the work is passed along unchanged, in whole, and with credit to you.
[5] Attribution- NonCommercial- ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) 
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work noncommercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
[6] Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 
This license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.