OA License
Creative Commons Licenses Creative Commons is a non-profit organization founded by Lawrence Lessing, Professor of Law at Stanford University, which offers free licensing models that allow authors to deposit their work freely on the Internet, limiting the uses that can be made of such works. They are closely related to the Open Access movement and are included in institutional repositories so that authors can choose the conditions of access and protection of their work when depositing their documents. The Creative Commons licenses were created to share and reuse creative works under certain conditions. With the Creative Commons licenses, the author author authorizes the use of his/her work, but the work remains protected. As opposed to COPYRIGHT, which means "all rights reserved", the Creative Commons offers "some rights reserved". The four conditions of the Creative Commons licenses are: - Attribution: The author allows the work to be copied, reproduced, distributed, publicly communicated, made into a derivative work (translation, adaptation, etc.) and used commercially, as long as the original author is cited and acknowledged. - No derivative work: The author does not allow the creation of derivative works. - Non-commercial: The author does not allow commercial use. - Share alike: The author allows the copying, reproduction, distribution, public communication of the work, and generation of derived works, but under the same license. All the Creative Commons licenses require the recognition of the author of the work and, if the author wants, the source (for example, institution, publication or magazine) where it has been published must also be indicated. The Creative Commons licenses are free of charge and therefore the best way to ensure the remuneration of the author is to exclude commercial uses and derived works (i.e. the Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivative Work license). These licenses are established in perpetuity, that is, for the entire duration of the protection of the work. The author reserves the right, at any time, to exploit the work under another license (whether Creative Commons or not), or even to withdraw it, but the previously granted license will continue in force. The Creative Commons licenses are not exclusive, therefore, the author can grant other licenses on the same work with different conditions, but the subsequent licenses can only be granted on a non-exclusive basis. The use of works with Creative Commons licenses obliges When a user decides to use a work with a Creative Commons license, he becomes a licensee and agrees to accept and respect the conditions of the license established by the author. In case of breach or infringement of a Creative Commons license, the author, as with any other work and license, will have to resort to the courts. In the case of direct infringement (by a user of the Creative Commons licence), the author can sue him/her both for infringement of intellectual property and for breach of contract (since the licence creates a direct link between the author and the user/licensee). The moral right of integrity, as stated in the Spanish legislation, is protected, even if it does not appear in the Creative Commons licenses. These licenses do not replace or reduce the rights that the law confers on the author; therefore, the author could sue a user who, under any Creative Commons license, had modified or mutilated his work causing damage to his reputation or interests. Of course, the decision as to when mutilation has occurred and when the mutilation harms the reputation or interests of the author would be left to each judge or court.