Can Another Outlet Republish an Article You Wrote for The Conversation Without Asking You?

What License Do Conversation Articles Carry, and What Did the Author Agree To?

The Conversation US says it publishes “all our work under a Creative Commons — Attribution/No Derivatives license,” which means outlets “can republish our articles online or in print for free” if they follow its guidelines (The Conversation US). The US, global, UK and Europe guideline pages all link to the same license, CC BY-ND 4.0.

The author's side of the deal sits in a different document. Under “User-generated content: submitting material for publication,” the Terms and Conditions say the contributor grants The Conversation a “non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license” to publish the material, and “agree[s] that we may permit other parties to publish and communicate to the public any material you submit to us in any format” (Terms and Conditions, page marked “Last updated: Feb 2021”).

That is why a republisher does not need to ask: the author agreed in advance, with no end date, that others may be allowed to run the piece. Our reading is that a non-exclusive license is not a transfer of copyright, so the author still owns the text. That is our interpretation, not a statement on the page. This is not legal advice.

What Must a Republisher Do?

Source for every row: The Conversation US, Republishing guidelines. The counter is a “1 pixel by 1 pixel invisible image that allows us and our authors to know when and where content is republished.” The US WordPress guide adds that the pixel lets The Conversation “anonymously track total pageviews and report on our impact to our funders and our authors, who volunteer their time and expertise” (WordPress guide).

What Can a Republisher Not Do Without the Author's Approval?

The guidelines route two things back to the author.

• Material edits. A republisher “will need to run them by the author for approval prior to publication,” using the Contact button on the author's profile or The Conversation's team (The Conversation US). The UK page specifies that material edits include cuts (The Conversation UK).
• Translations. The US page calls a translation “a derivative under our Creative Commons license and so require author approval,” adding that “Many authors will give approval in good faith.”

Two uses need no approval. An outlet can run an extract, meaning the first few lines or paragraphs followed by “Read the full article on The Conversation” and a link, and it can quote articles with a link to the article URL. Separately, the US page says that for “Commercial, non-journalism usage: license fees may apply,” and asks such users to get in touch.

What Does the Creative Commons License Itself Say?

The license is narrower in some places and broader in others than the guidelines. The deed says anyone may copy and redistribute the material “for any purpose, even commercially,” and that “The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.” Its NoDerivatives term reads: “If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material” (Creative Commons deed).

The legal code lets licensees “produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material,” and defines adapted material to include work that is “translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified” in a way that needs the rights holder's permission. Attribution under Section 3 includes naming the creator, a notice referring to the license, and “a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable.” Under Section 6, rights “terminate automatically” on a breach, with reinstatement if it is cured within 30 days. The licensor may “stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License” (CC BY-ND 4.0 legal code).

Several guideline conditions do not appear in the license text: the page view counter, the ban on systematic republication, the separate-sale rule, and the fee language for commercial use. Section 7 says arrangements “not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.” We draw no conclusion on how a court would treat the extra conditions. The safe course is to treat them as the guidelines require. This is not legal advice.

Do the US, Global, UK and Europe Pages Say the Same Thing?

On the core rules, yes. On paywalls, commercial use and AI, the live pages differ.

Sources: US, global, UK and Europe pages. The UK page says “You cannot use our articles for training artificial intelligence or machine learning models,” citing the No Derivatives restriction, and states the license covers the text of articles “(excluding images).” Our recommendation, not a Conversation rule: follow the page for the edition that published the article, and where one page is silent, ask that edition's republishing team.

How Far Do Republished Copies Travel?

Far enough that republication is a large share of the audience.

The chart shows that, across all editions, republication adds about 19.7 million monthly page views to roughly 33.3 million onsite, our arithmetic on The Conversation's rounded figures, so republished copies account for roughly 37% of the total.

The US edition's 2025 Impact Report says “more than 1,000 news outlets” carry its content every month. In one example, an explainer on a drug recall was “read 1.7 million times in less than a week − with over 80% of the readership coming from other news outlets that published our story under our Creative Commons license” (2025 Impact Report). The US about page says “The Associated Press distributes our content daily to thousands of newsrooms” (The Conversation US).

For the author, that reach comes at a cost. They give up control over who runs the piece and where, and they give up exclusivity. They keep a protection: unedited text. The media page says “authors retain final sign off on all their articles” (Resources for media), although the Terms reserve the right “to make additions or deletions to the text or graphics prior to publication.” The pages we read do not say how a later correction reaches copies already republished, and they describe no payment from republishers to authors. Anyone weighing a later reuse of their own text should read our guide to republishing your own bylined article.

What This Means for Anyone Buying a Placement

A Conversation article cannot be bought. The pages we read describe authors as academics and researchers who work with professional editors, and describe no way to pay for a slot. Treat any offer to sell one as unverified. For how its US edition takes pitches, see our op-ed guide.

Before writing for any outlet, find out what license you grant. The Conversation's open license and a member program's contributor terms can both be perpetual and irrevocable, yet they lead to very different places, as our guide to member-program contributor terms shows. An open license spreads the piece widely. It also means copies sit on sites you do not control, which is the problem described in our guide to removing placements. Republished copies are a form of content syndication, and that guide covers how search engines treat duplicate copies.

Paid articles are a different product. They are advertising, labeled as sponsored, and carry no promise of reach, rankings or permanence.

Methodology and Limitations

Four limits apply. First, we read The Conversation's US, global, UK and Europe republishing pages, its Terms and Conditions, its media and about pages, the Australia and New Zealand audience page and the US 2025 Impact Report in full on October 12, 2026, but we did not read every edition's guidelines, and the pages change without version stamps. Second, the audience figures are The Conversation's own, rounded, and the page gives no measurement period. Third, how far guideline conditions beyond the license text bind a republisher is a legal question we do not answer. Fourth, we did not test a republication or read any author's individual agreement. Nothing here is legal advice.

Conclusion

Yes, another outlet can republish a Conversation article without asking the author, provided it runs the text unedited, credits the author, institution and The Conversation with a link, and online includes the page view counter. The author agreed to this in advance through a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable license, and the Creative Commons deed says the licensor cannot revoke the CC BY-ND freedoms as long as republishers follow the license terms. That is the price of an audience in which republished copies account for more than a third of page views. For anyone who wants to control where a piece ends up, the uncomfortable point is that an open license gives that control away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Built from The Conversation's US, global, UK and Europe republishing guidelines, its Terms and Conditions, media, about and audience pages, its US 2025 Impact Report and the Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 deed and legal code, each read in full on October 12, 2026. The reading of the license versus the guidelines, and the advice on which edition's page to follow, are our interpretation and recommendation, not Conversation rules. We did not test a republication. This is not legal advice.

1. official The Conversation US, Republishing guidelines and Creative Commons license for articles. License statement, edit and credit rules, page view counter, paywall wording, image rules, special cases including translations and release forms, commercial non-journalism fees. Read October 12, 2026.
2. official The Conversation, Republishing guidelines (global). Paywall wording, release forms, fees for textbooks or exam materials, CC BY-ND 4.0 link. Read October 12, 2026.
3. official The Conversation UK, Republishing guidelines. Edits include cuts, commercial licensing fee, AI training prohibition, text-only license scope. Read October 12, 2026.
4. official The Conversation Europe, Republishing guidelines. Ads-only wording, edit and credit rules, release forms. Read October 12, 2026.
5. official The Conversation US, Terms and conditions, page marked “Last updated: Feb 2021”. Contributor license grant, permission for other parties to publish, originality warranty, right to edit before publication (same wording on the global terms). Read October 12, 2026.
6. standards Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International deed. Commercial use, NoDerivatives term, non-revocation statement. Read October 12, 2026.
7. standards Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International legal code. Adapted Material definition, license grant, attribution conditions, termination and reinstatement, Section 7 on other arrangements. Read October 12, 2026.
8. official The Conversation, Audience (Our Audience and Impact). Average monthly page views onsite and including republication, all editions and Australia and New Zealand (chart). Read October 12, 2026.
9. official The Conversation US, 2025 Impact Report. More than 1,000 outlets carrying content monthly; recall explainer read 1.7 million times with over 80% via other outlets. Read October 12, 2026.
10. official The Conversation US, How to republish The Conversation using the WordPress block editor. Purpose of the counter pixel; authors volunteering time and expertise. Read October 12, 2026.
11. official The Conversation UK, Resources for media. Authors retain final sign-off; authors are academics and editors are journalists. Read October 12, 2026.
12. official The Conversation, Who we are (US). AP distribution to thousands of newsrooms. Read October 12, 2026.