Publishing in Academic Law Journals

Creative Commons (CC) licenses are a model of licensing that allows copyright owners to decide how a work can be used, reused, and modified by others, including: 

• If attribution is required, 

• If copies can be used commercially, 

• If copies can be remixed or altered, 

• And if future versions of the work must be licensed under the same license. 

Creative Commons Licenses are typically used by open access journals and are assigned by the copyright owner, whether that is the author or the publisher.  

Authors that retain copyright over their work and want to use a Creative Commons license should evaluate the list of CC licenses to better understand how each license will affect the use and reuse of their work going forward before applying one. A Creative Commons license cannot be revoked after it has been applied. 

• About Creative Commons Licenses - Created by the non-profit organization, Creative Commons, this gives a brief introduction to what CC licenses are, how they can be applied, and what to consider before applying one to your work. 

• UBC’s Creative Commons Guide - UBC’s Creative Commons research guide provides an in-depth introduction to Creative Commons licenses, including license terms, applying a license to your work, and how to find and use other CC materials.