7 Reusing CC Licensed Materials in Adaptations and Collections
As we saw in the last section, one component of CC licenses is ND (no derivatives), which is used in the CC BY-ND and the CC BY-NC-ND licenses. No derivatives means that anyone reusing the work cannot remix or adapt it (note: remix, adaptation, and derivative work are synonymous). But what counts as an adaptation? Legally, what counts as an adaptation is dependent on the laws of each country (ex. most countries require some level of “originality”, and in Canada that is a combinations of creativity and “independent conception” – CC FAQ). In practical terms, this means that adaptations take some or all of some other work(s), and modify them enough that it’s unclear where one ends and the other begins. In the process of modifying, the creator is demonstrating creativity, and is essentially creating a new copyrightable work, that clearly is derived from the earlier work(s). Examples of adaptations can include translations, combining images and text to create a new image, or combining various Open Educational Resources into a chapter in an open textbook.
Separate from adaptations are collections. Collections keep the original work(s) independent and easily identifiable and citable. Examples of collections are anthologies, using a photograph in a slide, or a book of curated images.
Licensing Considerations
So let’s head back to the ND element, because there are licensing considerations that differ for adaptations and collections.
Adaptations
- All works used in the adaptation must be given proper attribution.
- Cannot be created using CC BY-ND or CC BY-NC-ND licensed works, unless you are not sharing the adaptation publicly
- If the original works are licensed under a license that uses the SA (ShareAlike) element, the adaptation must use a compatible license.
- If more than one original work is used that has a CC license, the person making the adaptation needs to ensure license compatibility
Collections
- All works used in the collection must be given proper attribution and their license should be clear.
- The collection may result in new copyright, but if so, it only applies to the new contributions that were made. For example, the arrangement of an anthology along with a new cover design could be a new copyright, but all the essays within the anthology would retain their original licenses.
For more detailed information about the compatibility of CC licensed materials, check out the CC License Compatibility Chart by Kennisland, made available under the CC0 public domain tool:
If there is a green checkmark at the intersection of two licenses it means that those works can be combined into an adaptation, while a black x means they cannot be. Note that the licenses with ND cannot be used with any other material, because they do not permit an adaptation to be made.
A synonym of “derivative”.
When reusing copyrighted content to create something new, it’s possible that the new work could be a collection or derivative. If all of the component parts are easily identifiable, the work is likely a collection. An example would be book of short stories. The creator of the collection of short stories would hold copyright over the particular arrangement and any new content they provide (i.e. an introduction).