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Copyright: Open and Public Licences

Information about copying and copyright at BCIT

Overview

Open and Public Licences are applied to materials to faciliate their (legal) broader sharing and re-use. Whereas copyright-protected works can be considered 'All Rights' reserved to their creator, Open and Public Licences can be considered 'Some Rights' or 'No Rights' reserved to their creator.

Open- and Public-licensed materials are a fantastic alternative to ultising Copyright-protected work, where feasible - learn more and explore what's available via BCIT Library's Open Education Guide.

Creative Commons (CC)

Authors and creators use a Creative Commons license to give others
permission to share and use their work under specified conditions.

Re-use and sharing of materials licensed under Creative Commons
must adhere to the conditions specified by the license - which typically
includes attribution.

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Public Domain

Works that are in the Public Domain can be freely shared and re-used,
without permission from the Copyright-holder. Works may be deemed
Public Domain for the following reasons:

  • They were never subject to Copyright (e.g. the work was too
    general)
  • The Copyright-holder elected to make their work Public Domain
    (i.e. they voluntarily ceded their rights as the Copyright-holder)
  • The term of Copyright has expired - in Canada, the term of
    Copyright is the life of the creator of the work, plus seventy years.
    Following this time period, the work will enter the Public Domain
    and is free to be shared and re-used by anyone
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Open Access (OA) 🔓

Historically, peer-reviewed research has been published under a closed-access model, which results in University Libraries paying large subscription fees to journal publishers so their Faculty and students can access this research.

In recent years, journals have been applying an Open Access (OA) licence to some or all of their publications, to facilitate scientific research reaching a broader audience. Research published under an OA licence is free for anyone to access, and the principles of Academic Integrity remain - OA research must be cited and referenced when used in one's own work.

Unpaywall & Inter-Library Loan (ILL)

Unpaywall is a browser extension which searches for OA-licenced versions of peer-reviewed research - helping you access research which may otherwise be unavailable to you.

If there is no OA-licenced version of a paper you'd like to read, you can submit a free Inter-Library Loan request for it.