As an author, you can determine which terms of use are applicable to your work. These conditions are defined in a licence. Authors of open access publications can use one of the open content licences that can be selected during the upload process. These licences are free, internationally recognised, standardised contracts that enable the free use of copyright-protected works.

The licences of the Creative Commons series are particularly popular in the scientific field. With a Creative Commons (CC) licence, authors can easily grant the public rights of use for their works without affecting the copyright protection. A detailed explanation of the CC licence agreements can be found on the Creative Commons website. HTW Berlin recommends the use of a CC-BY licence, as this meets all the criteria for open access.

Please note that Creative Commons licences are granted irrevocably and that the use of such licences is only possible if the corresponding rights are still held by the authors (and e.g. no exclusive rights of use have been transferred to a publisher). If no Open Content licence is selected, German copyright law applies alongside the terms and conditions contained in the accepted declaration of consent.