4 Creative Commons Licenses

CC Licenses Overview

Layers of Creative Commons Licenses

• Legal Code: This is the base layer containing the “lawyer-readable” terms and conditions that are legally enforceable in court.
  • Example: The legal code of CC BY specifies the attribution requirements.
• Commons Deeds: These are “human-readable” summaries of the legal code. While not enforceable, they simplify the key license terms.
  • Explore: Compare the deeds for CC BY and CC BY-NC-ND to see how they differ and find links to the legal code.
• Machine-Readable: The final layer translates the license into a format that software (e.g., search engines) can understand, helping web services identify licensed works.
  • Key Tool: CC Rights Expression Language (CC REL) enables easy discovery of licensed works using search engines like Google.

Symbols in Creative Commons Licenses

• Attribution (“BY”): This symbol indicates that credit must be given to the creator. All Creative Commons licenses include this requirement.
• NonCommercial (“NC”): The work can only be used for non-commercial purposes. This restriction is present in three licenses.
• ShareAlike (“SA”): Adaptations of the work must be shared under the same or compatible license. This condition appears in two licenses.
• NoDerivatives (“ND”): Reusers cannot share adaptations of the work. Two licenses include this restriction.

Public Domain Tools

• CC0: This tool enables creators to dedicate their works to the worldwide public domain, allowing for unrestricted use. Some jurisdictions do not allow such dedication, so CC0 includes legal mechanisms to address this.
• Public Domain Mark: A label used to mark works known to be free of copyright restrictions. Unlike CC0, this tool serves only as a label without legal effect.

Limitations of CC Licenses

• Fair Use and Other Exceptions: Creative Commons licenses do not limit or reduce rights under exceptions like fair use or provisions for people with disabilities (e.g., the Marrakesh Treaty). If your use is allowed by these exceptions, you do not need to rely on the CC license.
• Public Domain Works: Creative Commons licenses should not be applied to works already in the public domain, as they do not impose restrictions on public domain materials. If you want to dedicate your work to the public domain, use CC’s Public Domain Dedication.

What Can Be CC-Licensed?

• Any copyrighted work can be CC-licensed, except for software, which has better-suited open-source licenses.
  • Note: Most open-source software licenses address the distribution of source code, which Creative Commons licenses do not. Refer to the CC FAQ for more information on this.

Types of Creative Commons Licenses (Least to Most Restrictive)

• Attribution (CC BY): Allows adaptation and commercial use with credit to the creator.
• Attribution-ShareAlike (BY-SA): Allows adaptation and commercial use, but adaptations must be shared under the same or compatible license.
• Attribution-NonCommercial (BY-NC): Allows adaptation, but only for non-commercial purposes.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA): Allows adaptation for non-commercial purposes, and adaptations must be shared under the same or compatible license.
• Attribution-NoDerivatives (BY-ND): Allows use of the unadapted work for any purpose, including commercial, with credit to the creator, but adaptations cannot be shared publicly.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND): The most restrictive license, allowing use of the unadapted work only for non-commercial purposes with credit. Adaptations cannot be shared.

Commercial vs. NonCommercial Use

• Definition of NonCommercial: A noncommercial use is one that is “not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.” This definition focuses on the use, not the user.
  • Example: A nonprofit cannot sell a work licensed as NC for profit, but a for-profit company can use it for noncommercial purposes.

Adaptations and Their Use

• What Constitutes an Adaptation:
  • Format Shifting (e.g., converting digital to physical) is not an adaptation.
  • Fixing minor issues (e.g., spelling corrections) is not an adaptation.
  • Syncing a musical work with a moving image is considered an adaptation.
  • Creating collections (e.g., combining multiple essays) is not an adaptation.
• NoDerivatives (ND) Licenses: These prohibit sharing adaptations publicly but allow private adaptations.
• ShareAlike (SA) Licenses: Adaptations must be shared under the same or a compatible license