Open Licences

See also Closed Licences.

List of Libre Licences

• Creative Commons Attribution

• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial

• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike

• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

• Creative Commons NonCommercial Sampling Plus

• Creative Commons Sampling Plus

• Free Art License

• GNU Free Documentation License

• GNU General Public License

• Licence Unclear

• OpenContent License

• Open Game License

• Open Publication License

• Own Licence

• Public Domain

Resources

• Which Open Licence is Right For Me?

Comparing Open Licences

An open licence can be compared to other options based on what options it allows and forbids.

For example, all open licences must permit:

• DISTRIBUTION (DISTRO): Anyone may distribute the work in its original form.
• ADAPTATION (ADAPT): Anyone may modify the work in any way, and then distribute it.

Some open licences require:

• ATTRIBUTION (BY): That those involved in the creation of the work be properly credited for their contributions.
• COPYLEFT (CL): That the work or any adaptations of the work are always distributed under the same or a comparable licence.
• NONCOMMERCIAL (NONCOM): That the work or any adaptations of the work are never distributed for profit.

Note that these tags are not exhaustive or comprehensive. Not every licence works the same way. Make sure you read and understand the licence you intend to use.

Table of Open Licences

All of these works are DISTRO-ADAPT.

Licence	Attribution	Copyleft	Noncommercial
Public Domain/Copyright-Only Declaration	Not required	No	No
Open Game License	Special1	Yes	No
Free Art License	Yes	Yes	No
OpenContent License	Yes	Yes	No
Open Publication License	Yes	Yes2	No3
Creative Commons
Attribution	Yes	No	No
Attribution-Share Alike	Yes	Yes	No
Attribution-Noncommercial	Yes	No	Yes
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sampling Plus	Yes	No	Maybe4
NonCommercial Sampling Plus	Yes	No	Yes
NonCommercial5	No	No	Yes
NonCommercial-Share Alike6	No	Yes	Yes
Share Alike7	No	Yes	No
GNU
Free Documentation License	Yes	Yes	No
General Public License	Yes	Yes	No
Lesser General Public License	Yes	Special8	No

Footnotes

1. Attribution is forbidden except for the mandatory inclusion of a product's Section 15 of the OGL

2. A licence option may remove this requirement

3. A licence option may impose this

4. If you 'creatively transform' the work, you can use it commercially.

5. retired

6. retired

7. retired

8. The original work and adaptations thereof must be open but supplementary material need not be.