Rights, Licensing, and Copyright (CC Licenses, Author Rights)
What this domain tests
This domain tests copyright ownership, licensing mechanics and author rights in OA workflows. You must know how CC licenses work, what rights retention changes, and why a copyright transfer can block OA deposit.
Core rules
- Copyright arises automatically; economic rights can be transferred or licensed, while moral rights vary by jurisdiction.
- CC licenses are irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive and royalty-free. CC BY allows reuse with attribution; SA requires share-alike; NC excludes commercial use; ND prohibits adaptations. CC0 is a public-domain dedication, not a license.
- Attribution under CC BY follows TASL: title, author, source, license, with changes noted.
- A repository deposit does not transfer copyright. Without a license, default is all rights reserved.
- Rights retention strategies give the institution or funder a prior, non-exclusive CC BY license to the accepted manuscript, overriding restrictive publisher agreements.
- Third-party content such as figures and images needs separate clearance.
Worked example
An author transfers copyright to a publisher, then wants to deposit the version of record in an institutional repository under CC BY. Reasoning: after transfer, the author no longer holds the rights needed to grant CC BY unless the contract preserves that right. A prior rights-retention policy or an author addendum would have kept a non-exclusive license. A repository can still host the accepted manuscript only if the publisher agreement or policy permits it.
Traps
Thinking CC BY means no attribution; treating NC as non-commercial only for others while the author sells copies; using ND when adaptations are needed; assuming a CC license covers third-party figures; and ignoring license version and jurisdiction.