Commercial use under the Creative Commons License

OpenStax Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

OpenStax publishes its books under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) license. This license allows you to reuse, remix, and adapt OpenStax content in any medium or format. However, there are specific rules about how the content can be used and shared, especially regarding commercial use.

This article explains the license terms under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

 

License Terms

OpenStax content is free to use and adapt, but not for commercial purposes.

You are free to:

  • Share the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt, remix, build upon, and translate the material

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution: You must give appropriate credit to OpenStax, include the book title, and provide a link to the free version of the book
  • NonCommercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes
  • ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license

 

Attribution Requirements

When redistributing all or part of an OpenStax book, you must include attribution on every physical page or its digital equivalent.

The attribution must:

  • Credit OpenStax
  • Include the book title
  • Provide a link to the free version of the book

For your convenience, pre-formatted attribution is included at the bottom of every page in OpenStax online books and PDFs.

Example Attribution

Below is an example from Anatomy and Physiology 2e:

Citation and Attribution information for Anatomy and Physiology 2e

ShareAlike Requirement

If you adapt or modify OpenStax content, you must distribute your new work under the same CC BY-NC-SA license.

This ensures that all derivative works remain free and openly available under the same terms.

 

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