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Understanding Licenses

Adoptable course content is released under Creative Commons licenses, but the exact license differs by course and even by content type within a course (for example, a textbook may be licensed more restrictively than the course notebooks). Always check the license stated on each course's page before you adapt or redistribute its materials.

When you read a Creative Commons license, the letter codes tell you what you may do:

  • BY (Attribution): credit the original authors.
  • NC (NonCommercial): no commercial use.
  • ND (NoDerivatives): you may share it, but not modify or redistribute changes.
  • SA (ShareAlike): if you adapt it, release your version under the same license.

A practical consequence: content marked ND can be used as-is but not modified, while content without ND can be customized for your institution. Per-course license details and links are on each course page.

Where each course states its license

Licensing is not standardized across this site. Each course and module (and sometimes each content type within a course) carries its own license. Find the specifics here:

  • Data 8: the textbook and the course materials are licensed differently.
  • Data 6: course notes are licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Always confirm the license on the course or module page before adapting or redistributing materials.