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Legal Information

The key tools for Open Access are the internationally recognized and globally applicable Creative Commons (CC) licenses. These provide standardized licensing models that allow you to publish scholarly works under Open Access.

 CC licenses specify: 

  • whether and how others may reuse your publication,
  • whether adaptation is permitted,
  • whether commercial use should be excluded.

 The recommended standard license for the first publication of scholarly content is CC BY 4.0.

 CC BY 4.0 

→ Attribution required; all uses (including commercial use and adaptations) permitted. 

This license meets the requirements of many research funding agencies, such as the German Research Foundation(DFG) or the European Commission. If a publication contains third-party material such as images, additional copyright regulations, such as the right to quote, must be taken into account.

In the arts and culture sector, restrictions may be appropriate, for example regarding the adaptation of works or their commercial reuse. Unlike with scientific works, there is no blanket licensing recommendation for these areas. In such cases, the Creative Commons License Chooser can help you select an appropriate license.

 Your Right to Open Access for Closed-Access Publications

 Through a publishing contract, you grant a journal or publisher non-exclusive or exclusive rights of use.

 Please note: 

  • Before submitting, check which rights you are assigning. In line with the Open Access Policy of Freie Universität Berlin we highly recommend you to grant solely non-exclusive rights to your publisher.
  • Many publishers and journals now offer the option to make traditional publications available as Open Access after publication. You can usually find a publisher’s or journal’s terms and conditions in the Open Policy Finder.
  • In Germany, you have a legally established right to second publication (Section 38 UrhG). 

Questions about licenses or publishing agreements? 

Contact: open-access@fu-berlin.de

Further information

  • Sganga, C., Margoni, T., Senftleben, M. et al. Towards a European Research Freedom Act: A Proposal for an EU-Wide Secondary Publication Right. IIC 56, 1516–1552 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-025-01620-6 
  • Graf, K. & Thatcher, S., (2012) “Point & Counterpoint Is CC BY the Best Open Access License?”, Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 1(1), eP1043. doi: https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1043