Digital guide: working with open licences/Understanding open licences and the public domain

Open licences and public domain dedications are tools that give the public permission to use materials typically protected by copyright and other laws.

Copyright

Copyright will arise in any original content that you or others create, like:

• text
• visual works
• music and sound recordings
• films and broadcasts
• software, database content and computer programs

Copyright first belongs to the makers or producers of these materials and gives them exclusive rights over the works. Works protected by copyright cannot be used without getting permission.

Most countries automatically protect these works through copyright and other laws. This means creators do not need to register their works to receive legal protection.

Protected materials can be identified by the copyright symbol ‘©’ or other rights information nearby. This notice informs the public that the work is protected by copyright laws.

However, copyright protects a work even when this information is not there. This makes it harder to tell whether permission is needed or the materials are free to use, and under what conditions. The safest route is to always assume a work is protected by copyright.

Open licences and public domain dedications reduce these default legal restrictions, making it easier for everyone to access and use materials found online.

Public domain

Not all works will be protected by copyright. These works are said to be in the ‘public domain’.

The term ‘public domain’ refers to materials that are:

• not protected by law, like facts and ideas
• not original enough for protection, like basic descriptive data

The public domain also includes all works for which copyright has expired.

Anyone can use any materials in the public domain for any reason, without permission.

The following image is marked with the CC BY 4.0 licence to show you what this looks like in practice.

Pepsis heros (Fabricius, 1798), The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, CC BY 4.0

What other rights might exist and who holds them?

Rights other than copyright can apply to materials. Below are brief descriptions of other rights you may encounter in the materials you and others create, use and share.

Performers’ rights

Performers’ rights can arise in films or sound recordings that capture a person’s speech or movement. Performers’ rights first belong to the person featured in the recording.

Database rights

Databases are protected under copyright and related rights. These rights belong to the maker or producer of the relevant materials.

Contractual rights

Contractual agreements between creators, producers, employers and distributors may apply to materials and limit their reuse. You may also sign agreements with contributors and donors that limit the reuse of materials.

Privacy and personal data protections

Your project may collect or include information about individuals protected by privacy or data protection laws, like the General Data Protection Regulation. These rights belong to the persons identifiable in the materials.

No rights

You might create or use materials that do not attract any rights, or in which the rights have expired. This can include public domain materials and their reproductions – as long as they do not contain any personal information or sensitive data about other people or communities.

Exceptions

Exceptions in the law may allow you to use, incorporate or share protected materials without seeking permission from the rights holder, although these are limited. Learn more about these exceptions at Copyright User and the Copyright Cortex.

Introducing open licences and tools

Open licences are upfront permissions that allow anyone to freely use, transform and share materials protected by copyright according to the terms of the licence. Open tools can be used to signal that materials are not protected by law or have been dedicated to the public domain.

Marking your materials with an open licence or tool

Anyone can publish their materials under an open licence or public domain dedication. Many funders have open licensing requirements to ensure funded materials are made freely available to the public.

Creative Commons (CC) is an organisation that provides a range of open licences and tools to publish original and public domain content. You can publish your digital outputs by marking them with CC licences and tools. There is no need to register your organisation or the materials anywhere.

You can publish someone else’s materials with a licence or tool only if they give you permission to do so.

Creative Commons (CC) licences and tools

Creative Commons (CC) licences and tools are widely used by the heritage sector globally because they are recognised and trusted by users. These standardised licences and tools give anyone coming into contact with your materials a clear and reliable understanding of how they are allowed to reuse them.

CC licences and tools are available in more than 40 languages. They are designed to release materials worldwide.

They are also machine readable and searchable online. This means they can be read by computers and returned in searches by people looking for open and reusable materials.

What is the difference between a CC licence and a CC tool?

CC licences can be used for materials protected by intellectual property law. This will be the case for most of the content you create during the project.

CC has two licences for openly licensing original content: CC BY and CC BY-SA. Other CC licences are not ‘open’ because they restrict commercial reuse (like CC BY-NC).

CC tools can be used for materials in the public domain or for materials the rights holder dedicates to the public domain. CC has two tools for public domain content: CC0 and the Public Domain Mark.

Because the public domain is defined by law, what is not protected by copyright can vary from one country to the next. This is why CC often recommends using the CC0 1.0 tool instead of the Public Domain Mark. The CC0 1.0 tool operates as a ‘no rights reserved’ alternative or fallback licence for users in any country. The Public Domain Mark should only be used for very old works or non-original materials known to be in the public domain worldwide.

For more information on CC tools and licences, visit the Frequently Asked Questions about Creative Commons section of their website.

Case studies: Using wiki to share open materials

The word ‘wiki’ refers to a website built using collaborative editing software. Many UK heritage organisations share open digital content through wiki-based sites.

Wikipedia & Wikimedia UK

Wikipedia is a well-known wiki-based website. The Wikimedia Foundation and its UK chapter support Wikipedia and other sites, like Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata, that enable millions of users worldwide to access and share materials.

Materials contributed must be openly licensed or dedicated to the public domain. This ensures everyone can freely use and reuse what is shared.

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh Wikipedian in Residence Ewan McAndrew and student intern Emma Carrol combined a 2003 Survey of Scottish Witchcraft (1563-1736) dataset with data from archives, like historical maps and surveys.

They cross-referenced the residences of the almost 4,000 people accused of witchcraft with their modern-day locations. This new dataset was then uploaded as CC0 to Wikidata and visualised on a digital map.

National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales and Wikipedian in Residence Jason Evans used Wikimedia platforms to reach local and global audiences.

Impact of sharing with Wikimedia during the residency, Jason Evans, CC0

Infographic image produced for a report on the Wikimedia UK Residency at the National Library of Wales. It shows that between April 2015 and April 2017, material shared by the National Library of Wales on Wikimedia generated:

• 265 million image views
• 115 language editions using National Library of Wales images
• 22 media appearances
• 8,000 third party media uploads

The Scottish Wildlife Trust

The Scottish Wildlife Trust shares materials under the CC BY-SA open licence on a dedicated MediaWiki page so more people can collaborate and contribute to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss.

Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum shared metadata as CC0 and uploaded it to Wikidata.

This work led to exciting new projects too. Data Developer James Morley used this data and other open datasets to create the website A Street Near You. Users can enter a postcode or address to locate people in their community who served and died in the First World War. The project went viral, reaching more than 240,000 people in three days.