2.3.1: Choosing A License
- Page ID
- 33009
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Overview
There are two things to remember: TASL (title, author, source, and license) and CC (Creative Commons licensing). Keeping track of licenses while gathering potential OERs is a worthy task, even if it is a few extra steps. This information is necessary to determine the proper CC license for a remix of materials.
TASL
While searching for OERs, it is important to track some basic information. The acronym TASL, as Ontario Tech University points out, is a good acronym as to keep in mind: Title, Author, Source, and License. This simple guideline emphasizes key information that will help you with attributions if you are using the OER in whole or in parts--including when you are creating a collection with a variety of CC licenses.
- Title
- What is the name of the material? Sometimes there isn't a distinct title, but if a title is provided, it should be included. If not, it's not a requirement.
- Author
- Who is/are the author(s)? Providing authorship information is essential for giving credit to the original creator. This supports academic integrity and acknowledges the intellectual contributions of the author.
- Source
- Where did you find it? Where is it linked? Keep the link where the OER was obtained or originally published. It could include the platform, website, or repository from which the resource was sourced. Note that some OERs may have been published on multiple platforms and some platforms may be better than others for accessing and using the content.
- License
- How can we use it? Does it already have a CC license? The license specifies the permissions and restrictions associated with the use of the OER. Clearly stating the license is fundamental in OER to communicate the terms under which others can use, share, and adapt the resource.
Creative Commons License Chooser
The Creative Commons License Chooser is a helpful tool that walks users through the process of defining the terms under which their works can be shared, used, and remixed. The License Chooser guides individuals through a series of questions, facilitating the selection of an appropriate Creative Commons license. This process involves customization based on preferences regarding attribution, commercial use, modifications, and sharing of derivative works. After going through the steps, it offers a user a suggested license for what they are looking to do. It also provides this in plain language, offering insights into the permissions and restrictions associated with the chosen terms. Users can copy the embed code and a Creative Commons badge for their work, aiding in the clear display of licensing information alongside the content and promote its use and reuse.
Attribution in Specific Media
As stated above, best practices for attribution apply to a variety of media, not just text. For media such as offline materials, video, audio, and images, consider:
- Publish a web page with attribution information. For example, on a webpage featuring your audio recording, provide a credit list of material you used that adheres to best practices above. Doing so allows not only your material but the materials you attribute to be found by search engines and other web discovery tools. If possible within the medium, make the Author, Source, and License into links the user can follow.
- Mention the credits within the media itself. For example, crediting videos can be a simple list of the materials used with their associated licenses in a screen at the end of a video. For audio, it can be a verbal recitation of credits at the end of the recording.
There are cases where materials may not have an attribution already provided. There are sites and browser plugins that may be able to assist you as you are collecting your OER resources.
From Washington State, there is the Open Washington site, which can help you build attributions should you run into a resource that you are uncertain how to use or are looking for HTML embeddable attributions https://www.openwa.org/attrib-builder.
CC License as an Embed for HTML pages
Using Open Washington's Attribution Builder, you would generate a bit of HTML that can be used on a webpage (or perhaps within your LMS)
<a>"This work"</a> is licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">CC BY 4.0</a>
What it looks like on a page
Sometimes, CC license builders will include the small license graphic 
along with attribution text. But at a minimum, what is required is the text attribution:
"This work" is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Attribution: Adapted from Best Practices for Attribution by Creative Commons Wiki, licensed under a CC BY 4.0 International License.