Once you’ve chosen a Creative Commons licence and checked that it’s compatible with your content you can add it to your textbook. Note that OER Collective grant funded books must be assigned a CC BY-NC licence unless otherwise discussed with the Director, Strategy and Analytics.
To apply a Creative Commons licence to images or documents included in your textbook:
For example:
© 2022 by [copyright owner].
Except as otherwise noted, [content title] is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
You can apply a Creative Commons licence to your textbook in Pressbooks by selecting the licence from the Copyright License drop-down menu in the Copyright section of the Book Info page.
Whether your textbook is an original work or an adaptation, you’ll need to include a copyright statement.
The copyright statement for a new open textbook typically includes:
For example:
[Book title] by [author] is licensed under a [Creative Commons licence], except where otherwise noted. All images contained within this book 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].
The copyright statement for an adapted open textbook typically includes the same details, as well as:
For example:
Unless otherwise noted, [Book title] is (c) [Year] by [Original author's name]. The textbook 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 book, 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.
If you’re adapting a textbook licensed under one of the Creative Commons licences, you’ll need to include an adaption statement:
For example:
[New book title] was adapted by [adapting author] from [original author]’s textbook, [original book title]. 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.
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:
If you’re using another authoring or publishing tool (such as Microsoft Word) to create your textbook, you can include the copyright, licensing and adaptation information on the copyright page.
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.