1. What is Creative Commons (CC)?
Creative Commons (CC) is similar in concept to Copyleft. It provides a flexible option between the traditional copyright extremes of “all rights reserved” and “no rights reserved.”
The core idea is “some rights reserved”: creators can decide which rights to keep and which to open for public use. This allows works to be shared and reused while still protecting the creator’s rights under certain conditions.
In addition, Creative Commons offers different combinations of licensing terms, described in a standardized data format (RDF/XML), making it easier for computers to automatically search for and identify openly licensed works.
2. Four Licensing Elements
Attribution(BY):
You must give credit to the author or licensor in the manner they specify.
Non-Commercial(NC):
You may not use the work primarily for commercial gain or monetary compensation.
No Derivatives (ND):
You may only reproduce the work; you cannot alter, transform, or modify it.
ShareAlike (SA):
If you alter, transform, or modify the work, you may only distribute the derivative work under the same license terms.
3. Six Core Creative Commons License Types
Attribution(BY)
Users are allowed to reproduce, distribute, transmit, and modify the work (including for commercial purposes), as long as they give credit to the author or licensor in the manner specified.
Attribution-ShareAlike (BY-SA)
Users may reproduce, distribute, transmit, and modify the work (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes). Users must credit the author or licensor as specified, and any derivative works must be released under the same license terms.
Attribution-NoDerivatives (BY-ND)
Users may reproduce, distribute, and transmit the work (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), but may not modify the work. Credit must be given to the author or licensor as specified.
Attribution-NonCommercial (BY-NC)
Users may reproduce, distribute, transmit, and modify the work, but not for commercial purposes. Credit must be given to the author or licensor as specified.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA)
Users may reproduce, distribute, transmit, and modify the work, but not for commercial purposes. If users create derivative works, they must credit the author as specified and release the derivative works under the same license terms.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND)
Users may only share the work in its original form, and must credit the author or licensor as specified. Users may not modify the work or use it for commercial purposes.
