Licence FAQs
- What is the Creative Archive Licence?
- What are the terms of the Creative Archive Licence?
- How does the Creative Archive Licence differ from the Creative Commons Licence?
- How will the Creative Archive Licence benefit those who created the content in the first place?
What is copyright? - What is attribution and how do I do it?
- Why is the Creative Archive Licence restricted to the UK?
I'm a UK citizen currently overseas. How do I access the Creative Archive content? - How much enforcement of the UK-only clause will be done?
- I live outside the UK but am willing to pay for Creative Archive content. What happens now?
- Can UK-based education and/or faith-based organisations use the content?
- What if I want to use Open University content in a commercial project?
- Does the Creative Archive licence apply to recordings made by educational establishments under an ERA (Educational Recording Agency) licence?
What is the Creative Archive Licence?
The Creative Archive Licence contains the legal rules that you must comply with in order to use and downoad the archive content of any of the Creative Archive Licence Group members. It's important for you to read and understand the full licence.
What are the terms of the Creative Archive Licence?
There are certain terms and conditions attached to using this content. Before you can download content you must read the Creative Archive Licence in full and agree to its terms and conditions. It's important for you to read and understand the full licence.
How does the Creative Archive Licence differ from the Creative Commons Licence?
The Creative Archive Licence is heavily inspired by the Creative Commons Licences. However, public service organisations within the UK have additional requirements that need to be reflected in the terms under which they licence content. The two most obvious of these are the UK-only requirement and the No Endorsement requirement. In addition, the Creative Archive Licence seeks to protect the Licensor's moral right of integrity, that is, the right not to have a work treated in a derogatory or objectionable way.
How will the Creative Archive Licence benefit those who created the content in the first place?
All content made available under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence has been rights cleared and, where appropriate, rights holders have been consulted and remunerated to enable such use. If a user wishes to make commercial use of any Open University content available through the Creative Archive, a separate licence would be required, and a fee would be payable. For details contact Open University Worldwide.
What is copyright?
In essence, copyright is the legal protection given to authors or creators of (for example) literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works. It protects them against unauthorised copying of their work and enables them to receive payment for uses made. Copyright legislation endeavours to strike a balance between those who create copyright works and the wide range of users wishing to use and exploit such works.
Other types of work protected by copyright include sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes, computer software, published editions and typographical arrangements.
It is a very complicated area of law but the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (and subsequent changes due to implementation of European Community directives) is the legal document that sets out:
- how such works can only be used in most circumstances with the permission of the copyright owner
- how such works must not be treated by users (e.g. in a derogatory way)
- how a copyright owner can take legal action against unauthorised uses or certain mis-treatment of their work
It is also important, though, to recognise that advances in technology have provided opportunities for uses to be made of Open University programmes that may exceed the boundaries described above – and the Creative Archive Licence Group pilot is an experiment via which we (in partnership with other rights owners) can gauge how the technological challenge described above can be met in a controlled and authorised way.
What is attribution and how do I do it?
Attribution is another way of saying giving credit. The Creative Archive Licence requires that you attribute or credit the sources of material you have used in your work.
How you credit your sources depends on what it is that you make and how you present it. For example, if you make an audio mashup and put it on your website for download, then you might want to add a short introduction or conclusion that tells people that you made it and names the source material. If you put it into a presentation then you might want to add a slide that names your sources.
If you are making a video you will probably have a credit section and you can simply add the sources into your credits.
Remember you shouldn't forget yourself in all this - you are part of the creative process as well! To make it easier for the next person, who might want to credit you, include yourself in the attribution section wherever you have added your own materials.
Why is the Creative Archive Licence restricted to the UK?
The archive content made available by members of the Creative Archive Licence Group under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence is restricted to the UK because the member organisations who supply the content are funded with public money to serve the UK population. They are therefore unable to bear the cost of distribution to overseas audiences. In addition, there may be broadcast rights restrictions which means that content intended for a UK audience should not be made available overseas.
I'm a UK citizen currently overseas. How do I access the content?
The Open University is currently limiting access to its Creative Archive content to the UK. So you won't be able to access the archive content if you're currently using the web from outside the UK. We apologise for any disappointment, but regrettably we do not currently have the infrastructure to allow all UK citizens and residents presently living abroad to access these broadband services.
How much enforcement of the UK-only clause will be done?
The Open University and other members of the Creative Archive Licence Group will be actively monitoring the use of content under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence and may where appropriate take action to enforce the terms of the licence.
I live outside the UK but am willing to pay for Creative Archive content. What happens now?
If you live outside of the UK you will need to contact the owners of content that particularly interests you to ask permission (and/or agree to licence terms) to use that content.
Can UK-based education and/or faith-based organisations use the content?
Teachers in UK-based educational establishments are welcome to use resources for teaching purposes under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence. An educational establishment is defined in the Creative Archive Licence as:
- those bodies set out under S174 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, which include schools, universities, higher education colleges and colleges of further education
- museums accredited by the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) or funded/sponsored by the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport).
We would love to see examples of any learning packages you create. But don't forget that neither you nor your school, college or organisation can sell it onwards. If you think you have created a potentially commercial product, then the licensors and/or authors may be interested in discussing a commercial licence with you.
What if I want to use Open University content in a commercial project?
A great creative idea can sometimes lead to a great commercial idea. If you want to make commercial use of any of The Open University content available through our campaigns, a separate licence would be required, and a fee would be payable. For details and prices please visit Open University Worldwide. You'll need to ask permission and probably negotiate an agreement to use the material for commercial purposes. Remember that the Creative Archive Licence only allows you to use the material for non-commercial purposes - you must ask permission to use the material in any other way.
Does the Creative Archive licence apply to recordings made by educational establishments under an ERA (Educational Recording Agency) licence?
No. The Creative Archive Licence and the ERA Licence are completely separate. They differ with regard to the nature of the content to which they apply and the ways in which the content can be obtained and used. Identifying which licence applies to a particular piece of content will depend on where and how the content was obtained.
The Creative Archive Licence (CAL) applies only to programme and other content which is marked with the Creative Archive Licence logo, and is available to private individuals and individuals within an educational establishment. The content is usually archive material made available for downloading via the web. It can be found on this site, elsewhere on the Open University websites and on the BBC, BFI and Teachers' TV websites, or might be shared with you, or sent to you as a Derivative Work (see CAL licence for definition) by an individual who is also a Creative Archive Licence user. You can use content marked with the CAL logo in the ways permitted in the CAL, but must also observe any restrictions in the licence.
The ERA Licence applies to most UK programme content, but is only available to educational establishments (schools, colleges and universities). It can be obtained from the Educational Recording Agency and permits an educational establishment with a current, valid licence to make off-air recordings of programmes from television broadcasts. The recordings may then be used by staff and students for non-commercial educational purposes in the ways permitted in the licence. Unlike under the Creative Archive licence, content obtained under an ERA licence may not be edited, adapted, translated or modified in any way although extracts or parts of a programme may be recorded and stored for educational use.
Open University programmes are not covered by the ERA licence; to use these in educational establishments you will require an off-air licence.


