Can you add a license to your work? - OER Background: Creative Commons (CC) - Licensing and OER - Library Home at Fox Valley Technical College

Can you License your Work or Not?

You can legally add a "License modifying your Copyright" to your own copyrightable works. However, you must make sure you have permission before adding a license to any "work for hire".

If you do not own the copyright to the work...

and you do not have written permission to add a license to the work...
and there is no license attached to the work giving you permission to re-license the work after you have made an adaption
...just cite the the material and link to it.

Or, if you take a small part, evaluate it for "Fair Use" and cite it - before you share it.

Copyright protected...Does "Fair Use" apply? (Ex: Parody, criticism; See: FOUR FACTOR TEST)
To relinquish ALL your legal copy rights, use the Public Domain Tool: CC0 “No Rights Reserved” (creativecommons.org) In contrast to CC’s licenses that allow copyright holders to choose from a range of permissions while retaining their copyright, CC0 allows copyright holders to opt out of copyright and database protection, and the exclusive rights automatically granted to creators. CC0 is the “no rights reserved” alternative to CC licenses.