# Open Audio License

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Open_Audio_License
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Open_Audio_License.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Audio_License
> Source revision: 1260260763
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

The **Open Audio License** is a [free music](/source/Free_music) license created in 2001 by the [Electronic Frontier Foundation](/source/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation) (EFF).[1] It provides freedom and openness of use for [music](/source/Music) and other expressive works. Publication of the first version of the Open Audio License spurred the creation of the original [Open Music Registry](/source/Open_Music_Registry) to support the license and provide a directory for finding works released under the license.

## Adoption of Creative Commons licensing

The EFF now encourages artists to use the [Creative Commons](/source/Creative_Commons) Attribution-ShareAlike license instead of the Open Audio License, and it "designates the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license as version 2.0 of the Open Audio License."[2] The Creative Commons licenses express the same principles as the original Open Audio License—a recognition that some creators want to make their works available to the public on less restrictive terms than copyright's defaults, with permission to copy, distribute, adapt, and publicly perform their works.

## References

1. Robin D. Gross (August 2001). ["Artists & Audiences Strike a New Deal with Open Licensing of Music"](https://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/200108_eff_oal_article.html). [Electronic Frontier Foundation](/source/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20040824140734/http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/200108_eff_oal_article.html) 24 August 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

1. ["EFF Open Audio License: Version 2.0"](https://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/eff_oal.html). [Electronic Frontier Foundation](/source/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation). June 2004. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20040602195332/http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/eff_oal.html) 2 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

## External links

- [Version 1.0 of the EFF Open Audio License](https://web.archive.org/web/20040818074301/http://www.eff.org/IP/Open_licenses/20010421_eff_oal_1.0.html)

The following sites provide content under the Open Audio License:

- [Open Audio License media on Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category%3AOpen_Audio_Licence)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Open Audio License](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Audio_License) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Audio_License?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.