Copyright is the exclusive right of a creator to copy, distribute, adapt and make their work available. The conditions under which a publication can be used and shared by others is defined in the licence. Open Access work is published under an open licence with copyright retained by the creator.
Traditional licence vs. Open licence
In traditional (closed access) publishing, a contract transfers the author's copyright to the publisher. The publisher then shares a publication under its own licence. This restricts users from being able to access and use a publication unless a sum of money is paid to the party with the copyright: in this case, the publisher.
Open Access publishing typically uses an open licence. This states that the author retains the copyright and gives others the right to read, share and use the publication. Exactly how the publication may be used depends on the type of open licence that's chosen.
Creative Commons licences
Creative Commons has developed a number of standard licences that define the way an Open Access publication can be used.
It is also possible to create a combination of the properties. For example, there is also a CC BY-NC-ND licence (no derivatives and no commercial use) or CC-BY-NC-SA (no commercial use and equal sharing). If you do not want to retain any copyright over your work at all, you can choose to take out a CC0 licence. This licence makes the work part of the public domain.
Which licence does VU recommend?
VU recommends the licence that allows the most open use, the CC-BY licence, because it allows for the greatest impact of your work. Often, publishers limit the choice of CC licences. For example, they sometimes only offer the option of CC-BY, CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-ND.
Research funders
Also keep in mind that your research funder may have specific policies regarding CC licencing and copyright preservation. Please refer to the Research Funders Guidelines page.
