About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (2024)

Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the question, What can I do with this work?

The CC License options

There are six different license types, listed from most to least permissive here:

CC BY

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (2) BY: credit must be given to the creator.

CC BY-SA

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-SA includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (4) BY: credit must be given to the creator.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (5) SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.

CC BY-NC

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY-NC includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (7) BY: credit must be given to the creator.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (8) NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.

CC BY-NC-SA

This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (10) BY: credit must be given to the creator.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (11) NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (12) SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.

CC BY-ND

This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY-ND includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (14) BY: credit must be given to the creator.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (15) ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.

CC BY-NC-ND

This license enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (17) BY: credit must be given to the creator.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (18) NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (19) ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.

The CC0 Public Domain Dedication

CC0 (aka CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which enables creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.

Choosing a license

The six licenses and the public domain dedication tool give creators a range of options. The best way to decide which is appropriate for you is to think about why you want to share your work, and how you hope others will use that work.

For help, try the CC license chooser >

Before licensing

Before you apply a CC license or CC0 to your work, there are some important things to consider:

The licenses and CC0 cannot be revoked. This means once you apply a CC license to your material, anyone who receives it may rely on that license for as long as the material is protected by copyright, even if you later stop distributing it.

You must own or control copyright in the work. Only the copyright holder or someone with express permission from the copyright holder can apply a CC license or CC0 to a copyrighted work. If you created a work in the scope of your job, you may not be the holder of the copyright.

See more pre-licensing considerations >

How to apply a CC license or CC0 to your work

CC-licensing your work is simple. All you have to do is choose the CC license that suits your needs and then communicate this choice in a way that will be clear to people who come across your work. As part of this communication, you should include a link to the license you’ve chosen.

This can be as simple as a bit of text stating and linking to the license in a copyright notice, like this:

© 2019. This work is openly licensed via CC BY 4.0.

…or as complex as embedding the license information on your website using the HTML code associated with the particular license. Use the CC license chooser to get the relevant HTML code.

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons (2024)

FAQs

What is CC by Creative Commons license? ›

Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law.

How many licenses are provided by Creative Commons CC )? ›

There are six different Creative Commons licenses: CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-NC-ND. The letter pairs indicate conditions for use.

Do you have to give credit for Creative Commons license? ›

You can use CC-licensed materials as long as you follow the license conditions. One condition of all CC licenses is attribution: crediting the author and noting the source and the license. Generally speaking, attribution must reasonably include all relevant information supplied by the licensor.

Is it hard to get a Creative Commons license? ›

The act of applying a CC license is easy, but there are several important considerations to think through before you do. CC BY License Icon. Trademark: Creative Commons.

Does Creative Commons license mean free? ›

Creative Commons offers licenses and tools to the public free of charge and does not require that creators or other rights holders register with CC in order to apply a CC license to a work.

Should I use a Creative Commons license? ›

CC licenses are appropriate for all types of content you want to share publicly, except software and hardware. Specify precisely what it is you are licensing. Any given work has multiple elements; e.g., text, images, music. Make sure to clearly mark or indicate in a notice which of those are covered by the license.

What are the rules for Creative Commons license? ›

License Features
  • All CC licenses require attribution, unless the licensor has distributed the work anonymously or asked that the attribution be removed.
  • The NonCommercial provision limits the scope of the license to noncommercial uses. ...
  • Licenses with a NoDerivatives term do not allow you to share adaptations of the work.

What are the benefits of a Creative Commons license? ›

They enable people to freely share and build upon existing works, which speeds innovation and the advancement of human knowledge. They allow more people to participate in the creation and remix of our cultural outputs. They bring people together around a set of socially-minded values.

What is an example of a creative license? ›

A lyricist, for example, might use the phrase "for you and I" instead of the correct form, "for you and me," in order to rhyme. A visual artist might distort a shape, change a color, or rearrange objects in a work in order to create a more pleasing or evocative image.

What are the disadvantages of a Creative Commons license? ›

The con to using these licenses is in the lack of control an author may have over their content. A reuse of content can't be revoked under a Creative Commons License once granted – unlike removing copyright permissions. Also, authors need to be very careful about which license they use.

What can you do with a Creative Commons license? ›

Our free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give your permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. You can adopt one of our licenses by sharing on a platform, sharing your work with an open license, or dedicating your work to the public domain.

What happens if you break Creative Commons? ›

If someone is using a CC licensed work without giving attribution or otherwise following the license, their right to use the work ends automatically as soon as they violate the license terms.

What is the most strict Creative Commons license? ›

The Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license or “BY-NC-ND” is the most restrictive license offered by CC. It allows people to use the unadapted work for noncommercial purposes only, and only as long as they give credit to the creator.

Why would someone have a Creative Commons Licence? ›

Every Creative Commons license allows the creator to retain copyright whilst allowing others to copy and distribute and make use of their work non-commercially. The Creative Commons license also ensures creators get the recognition and credit for the work they produce and share.

How long does a Creative Commons license last? ›

The licenses and CC0 are irrevocable. Irrevocable means a legal agreement that cannot be canceled. That means once you apply a CC license to a work, the CC license applies to the work until the copyright on the work expires.

What is the difference between copyright and CC license? ›

Copyright law gives creators certain kinds of control over their creative work. If people want to use copyrighted work, they often have to ask for permission from the creator. Creative Commons works within copyright law. It allows creators to grant permission to everyone in the world to use their work in certain ways.

What is the difference between CC by and CC by NC? ›

Whereas a CC BY is the most liberal license, the CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: this license only allows re-users to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes.

What does by in CC by stand for? ›

“BY” stands for attribution (the obligation to credit the author and other parties designated for attribution); “NC” stands for NonCommercial (commercial use is excluded from the licence grant); “ND” means NoDerivatives (only verbatim copies of the work can be shared) and “SA” represents ShareAlike (i.e. the work can ...

Can CC BY 4.0 be used commercially? ›

CC BY 4.0 This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Lakeisha Bayer VM

Last Updated:

Views: 5603

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (69 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Lakeisha Bayer VM

Birthday: 1997-10-17

Address: Suite 835 34136 Adrian Mountains, Floydton, UT 81036

Phone: +3571527672278

Job: Manufacturing Agent

Hobby: Skimboarding, Photography, Roller skating, Knife making, Paintball, Embroidery, Gunsmithing

Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.