The characteristic feature of open educational resources (OERs) is that they are released for public use (public domain)
or licensed with an open license 
, which gives others the rights to freely access to, reuse, adapt, and distribute the materials with or without restrictions.
Creative Commons is the most well-known licensing system by means of which you as the author can decide how you want your work to be used by others. A CC license allows you to give others the access right to your work but does not deprive you of the copyright. By combining different terms, you can share your rights in a way that suits you and the situation. Using the licensed requires no registration or other permission. All you need to do is to, in your work or in connection with the work, add the information about the license you have chosen. You can get help choosing the right license from Creative Commons and Valitse lisenssi (in Finnish) or by familiarizing yourself with this process chart (in Finnish).
Picture: Wikimedia Commons, CC0
The Creative Commons licenses allow the author to define the usage rights for their work (e.g., image, text, video) and at the same time inform the users about these rights. Through a CC license, the author allows users to use the work more generally than the Copyright Act would otherwise allow.
In principle, the user can copy, transmit, distribute, and perform a work which is shared with a CC license, as well as the versions made on the basis of the work, without separate permission. The author, however, may restrict these fundamental rights subject to a number of different conditions.
The Creative Commons licensing system is based on four terms. By combining these terms, the author can define the usage rights for his/her work:
Attribution (BY, ByAttribution) = The author's name should be acknowledged (mentioned). Otherwise the work may be used freely.
Non-commercial (NC, NonCommercial) = Commercial use of the work is prohibited. Otherwise the work may be used freely.
No derivates (ND, NoDerivates) = The work may not be edited and adapted. Otherwise the work may be used freely.
Share alike (SA, ShareAlike) = Allowed to adapt or build on the work. But if the work is adapted and the person who adapts the work wants to spread the adaptation further, it must be done under the same original license.
Based on these terms, six different licenses are then created.
In addition to the basic licenses, the system contains a CC0 license with which the author can waive all rights to his/her work and make it free for public use (public domain): 
Sources:
You can publish your work under a Creative Commons licence. All you have to do is to enter in the work (or in connection with it) the license you have chosen. The easiest way to find the right licence is to use the License Chooser. By combining different terms, you can define the rights for your work in a way that suits your own situation. With the help of the license chooser, you can also define how you want to be mentioned as the author and create a complete license designation for both printed and online publications.
The use of the license does not require registration or other permission. Read more on the Creative Commons Suomi (in Finnish).
Video: Näin lisäät CC-lisenssin aineistoosi (in Finnish), by Creative Commons Finland, CC BY-SA 4.0
Source: Digitaaliset aineistot opetuksessa -opas (in Finnish) by TurkuAMK (permission obtained to use and adapt)
To be able to use a CC-licensed image or other material, you must comply with the license terms. The license designation is usually visible in connection with the material or, e.g., at the bottom of the web page, either as a symbol, a combination of letters, or a full spelling. Clicking on the license opens a summary page that clearly and concisely explains the most important terms of use for the material. You can familiarize yourself with the legal texts from the links on the summary page.
When using CC-licensed material in your own work, act in accordance with the license terms. Always mention at least
If the material has been distributed under a CC0 license, the author has waived all rights and released the work for free public use. In this case, copyright and license information are in principle not required.
However, mention the author and license information also in connection with CC0-licensed material if you use such material in teaching or learning materials. In this way, the image or other material differs from the material you have copied from the internet with Kopiosto's copy permission, or, e.g., from a photo you took yourself.
Examples:
 |
 |
| Picture: Kristina Alexanderson, Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) |
Picture: ChristopherPluta, (CC0) |
Source: Digitaaliset aineistot opetuksessa -opas (in Finnish) by TurkuAMK (permission obtained to use and adapt)
Creative Commons-licensed materials can be downloaded online through a number of different search and content services. This page contains a selection of services through which you can search for open or partially open materials. Always remember to check the terms of use of the service or of the material you use.
Google Image: When searching for images via Google, it is possible to filter the images according to usage rights. After the search, click on Tools and Usage rights to select images based on your needs.
Open science and use of images: ImagOA (in Finnish) by Aalto University: A guide on the use, licensing, and retrieving of open images.
Source: Digitaaliset aineistot opetuksessa -opas (in Finnish) by TurkuAMK (permission obtained to use and adapt)
License your educational resources for open use.
CC BY 4.0 Attribution
With this license, you as the author authorises others to copy, use, modify, distribute, and build upon your work, display and perform their work and the modified version thereof, even in commercial contexts, provided that the author and the license of the work are referred to in a linkage and any changes are clearly stated. The modified versions must not infringe on the specific nature of the original author’s work. CC BY is the most common license for open content.
CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution – ShareAlike:
With this license, you as the author authorises others to copy, use, modify, distribute, and build upon your work, display and perform their work and the modified version thereof, even in commercial contexts, provided that the author and the license of the work are referred to in a linkage and any changes are clearly stated. The modified versions must not infringe on the specific nature of the original author’s work. If the editor publishes the modified version, it must be published under the same license.
All new works created on the basis of a work that has this license must have the same license as the original work. This is recommended for educational resources.
See:
Copyright in education by Tarmo Toikkanen, CC BY 4.0
Video: Tekijänoikeudet ja käyttöoikeudet avoimessa toimintakulttuurissa, osa 1:
Avoimen toimintakulttuurin lisenssiasiat periaatteessa ja käytännössä, by Tarmo Toikkanen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Video: Tekijänoikeudet ja käyttöoikeudet avoimessa toimintakulttuurissa, osa 2:
Erityiskysymyksiä ja -tilanteita avoimessa toimintakulttuurissa, by Tarmo Toikkanen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Video: Tekijänoikeudet ja käyttöoikeudet avoimessa toimintakulttuurissa, osa 3: Kysymykset, by Tarmo Toikkanen, CC BY-SA 4.0