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Creative Commons (CC) Licenses: Creative Commons (CC) Licenses

Creative Commons (CC)

Creative Commons icon

Creators can use Creative Commons licenses to allow others to use, adapt, and/or share their works. While the creators retain copyright, the designated license allows for use/reuse as per the terms of the license. The creator can choose the license that works for their needs and preferences.

Why Creative Commons licenses?

Due to the changes brought on by technology where works can be distributed and viewed more easily than ever, copyright law was limiting the ability of others to copy or adapt the work of others. Creative Commons was created to ease the tension between copyright restrictions and those who wish to openly share their work for use/adaptation.

History of Creative Commons

CC licenses work along with copyright and apply as long as the copyright lasts on a work and as long as users follow the terms of the license. CC licenses can only function where copyright and Similar Rights are applied, and so they have no effect on limitations/exceptions to or rights outside of copyright, such as fair use/dealing, privacy rights, trademarks, etc.

What is copyright?

This content is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed by CC BY 4.0, adapted content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Units 1 and 3 on Creative Commons licenses

What is Creative Commons?

The content contained in this video is available under the Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike License v 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...) unless otherwise stated. The work is attributable to: Victor Grigas, Wikimedia Foundation and under a Creative Commons By License. Video by Victor Grigas Music by Kate Orange

The CC Licenses

Creative Commons licenses have four elements:

Creative Commons By icon   BY - Attribution - attribution must be given to the original licensor (required by all licenses)

Creative Commons Non-commercial icon   NC - NonCommercial - the work can only be used for noncommercial purposes

Creative Commons no derivatives icon   ND - NoDerivatives - no adaptations of the work can be shared

Creative Commons share alike icon   SA - ShareAlike - works adapted from original must be licensed under the same license

The four license elements can be combined in different ways to make six licenses:

Creative Commons By license badge   CC BY - Attribution license - least restrictive - work can be used for any purpose with attribution

Creative Commons by share alike license badge   BY-SA - Attribution ShareAlike license - work can be used for any purpose with attribution and adaptations shared under the same or a compatible license

Creative Commons by non-commercial license badge   BY-NC - Attribution-NonCommercial license - work can only be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution

Creative Commons by non-commercial share alike license badge   BY-NC-SA - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license - work can only be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution and adaptations shared under the same or a compatible license

Creative Commons by no derivatives license badge   BY-ND - Attribution-NoDerivatives license - work can be used unadapted for any purpose with attribution (adaptations cannot be shared)

Creative Commons non-commercial no derivatives license badge   BY-NC-ND - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license - most restrictive - work can be used unadapted and only for noncommercial purposes with attribution (adaptations cannot be shared)

The last two licenses (BY-ND and BY-NC-ND) are typically not considered Open Educational Resources since they cannot be adapted AND shared.

This content is a derivative of the September 2020 Creative Commons Certificate Course by Creative Commons, licensed by CC BY 4.0, adapted content from the Creative Commons Certificate Course Unit 3 on Creative Commons licenses. Icons and buttons downloaded from Creative Commons "Downloads" page https://creativecommons.org/about/downloads/ , which is licensed by CC BY 4.0.