Open Educational Resources Collective Publishing Workflow

Once you’ve chosen a Creative Commons licence and checked that it’s compatible with your content you can add it to your OER. Note that OER Collective grant funded books must be assigned a CC BY-NC licence unless otherwise discussed with CAUL.

You can apply a Creative Commons licence to your OER in Pressbooks by selecting the licence from the Copyright License drop-down menu in the Copyright section of the Book Info page. 

To apply a Creative Commons licence to images or documents included in your OER:

• Copy the Creative Commons licence icon
• Paste it into the file
• Add the attribution information and any other conditions you want to include

Below is a template for a standard licence statement:

© [Year] by [Copyright Owner].

Except as otherwise noted, [OER Title] is licensed under a [Creative Commons licence type].

Below is an example of a completed licence statement:

© 2025 by Buffy Summers.

Except as otherwise noted, How to Be A Vampire Slayer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

Copyright statements are typically found: on the book’s copyright (often verso) page.

Adaptation statements are typically found: in a book’s front matter (e.g. in the preface or on an about page) on the book’s copyright page, along with the copyright statement.

If you’re using Pressbooks, you can add your copyright and adaptation statements to the Copyright Notice field on the Book Info page.

You can see some some example copyright and adaptation statements by scrolling to the book metadata at the bottom of these Pressbooks webbooks:

• Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition
• Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International Edition.

If you’re using another authoring or publishing tool (such as Microsoft Word) to create your OER, you can include the copyright, licensing and adaptation information on the copyright page. 

Whether your OER is an original work or an adaptation, you’ll need to include a copyright statement.

The copyright statement for a new OER typically includes:

• Title of the OER
• Author(s)
• Copyright year and owner
• Licence with link to licence details
• Description of licence permissions
• Explanation about when and how to attribute the author(s) of the OER
• Description of conditions for redistributing the OER
• Recommended citation
• Recommended attribution
• Attribution statement for cover image, including links to the image’s source and creator’s home page (if available) and a description of the image’s licence.

Below is an template of a standard copyright statement:

[OER Title] by [Author] is licensed under a [Creative Commons licence], except where otherwise noted. All images contained within this resource retain their copyright or original Creative Commons licences and can only be re-used under their respective licences. Additionally, content from:

[Publication Title] has been used under their terms of use [link], which permits [terms].

Below is an example of a standard copyright statement:

How to Be A Vampire Slayer by Buffy Summers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, except where otherwise noted. All images contained within this resource retain their copyright or original Creative Commons licences and can only be re-used under their respective licences. Additionally, content from:

A Watcher's Guide to Vampires by Rupert Giles has been used under their terms of use, which permits reuse with attribution.

The copyright statement for an adapted OER typically includes the same details, as well as:

• Title of original resource
• Original author(s)
• Original copyright owner(s)
• Original date of copyright
• Original licence with link to licence details

Below is a template for a copyright statement for an adapted OER:

Unless otherwise noted, [OER Title] is (c) [Year] by [Original Author's Name]. The resource content was produced by [Author] and is licensed under a [Creative Commons licence], except for the following changes and additions, which are (c) [Year] by [Adapting Author's Name], and are licensed under a [Creative Commons licence].

All examples have been changed to [country] references, and information throughout the resource, as applicable, has been revised to reflect [country] content.

[Specify any additional changes.] The following additions have been made to these chapters:

[Chapter number]

• [List changes].

You are free to use or modify (adapt) any of this material providing the terms of the Creative Commons licences are adhered to. 

Below is an example for a copyright statement for an adapted OER:

Unless otherwise noted, How to Be A Vampire Slayer is (c) 2025 by Buffy Summers. The resource content was produced by Buffy Summers and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, except for the following changes and additions, which are (c) 2025 by Willow Rosenberg, and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.

All examples have been changed to Sunnydale references, and information throughout the resource, as applicable, has been revised to reflect Sunnydale content.

The following additions have been made to these chapters:

Chapter 2

• Replaced image of stake with image of books

Chapter 4

• Added field notes from Xander Harris

You are free to use or modify (adapt) any of this material providing the terms of the Creative Commons licences are adhered to. 

If you’re adapting an OER licensed under one of the Creative Commons licences, you’ll need to include an adaption statement:

• Acknowledging the author(s) of the original work
• Indicating who owns the copyright to specific parts of the work
• Specifying the original work’s licence (adaptations of works licensed under a Share-Alike licence must be released under the same licence)
• Describing any substantial changes and where readers can find these (use chapter numbers or sections rather than page numbers)

Below is a template for a standard adaptation statement:

[New OER Title] was adapted by [Adapting Author] from [Original Author]’s work, [Original Work Title]. For information about what was changed in this adaptation, refer to the Copyright Statement at the bottom of the home page.

Below is an example of a standard adaptation statement::

How to Be A Vampire Slayer was adapted by Buffy Summers from Rupert Giles’ work, A Watcher's Guide to Vampires. For information about what was changed in this adaptation, refer to the Copyright Statement at the bottom of the home page.

Keep track of any new content you add or existing content you change during the revision process so you can include these in your adaptation statement. 

Adapted from:

‘Applying a Creative Commons Licence’ by Smartcopying, licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

‘Adaptation Statement’ in Adaptation Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph, licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

‘Book Info Page’ in BCcampus Open Education Pressbooks Guide by Lauri M. Aesoph, licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence.