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Copyright Law: Open Licenses

CC Licenses & Copyright

Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright. They are built to work with it.
Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools depend on copyright law in order to work.
The default of "all rights reserved" copyright is that all rights to copy and adapt a work are reserved by the author or creator (with some important exceptions). Creative Commons licenses adopt a "some rights reserved" approach, enabling an author or creator to free up their works for reuse by the public under certain conditions. See Creative Commons Licenses. [1]

To learn more, visit our Creative Commons guide.

CC License Enforceability

Legal enforceability is one of the key features of CC licensing. While the licenses are widely seen as symbols of free and open sharing, they also carry legal weight. The legal code was written by lawyers with the help of a global network of international copyright experts. The result is a set of terms and conditions that are intended to operate and be enforceable everywhere in the world.

The legal robustness of the CC licenses is critically important. With the help of its international network of legal and policy experts, the CC licenses are accepted and enforceable, and very few lawsuits have ensued. In the vast majority of cases, the community resolves disputes outside of the courtroom. [1]

[1] "License Enforceability" by Creative Commons.

Attribution

One of the most important aspects of CC licenses is attribution. CC suggests including a Title, Author (who should reusers give credit to), Source (provide reusers a link to the resource), and License (link to the CC license deed) (TASL) for practicing attribution. The TASL method works for both marking your work and providing attribution to the work of others.

Creative Commons Logo Outlined by a Heart

The Licenses

CC-BY License CC-BY

This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.

CC-BY-SA License CC-BY-SA

This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even commercially. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under the same terms. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.     

CC-BY-SA License CC-BY-NC

This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.       

CC-BY-NC-SA License CC-BY-NC-SA

This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under the same terms. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.

CC-BY-ND License CC-BY-ND

This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, even commercially. No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.

CC-BY-NC-ND License CC-BY-NC-ND

This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes only. No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted. Credit must be given to the creator. View license details here.

Anatomy of Creative Commons (CC) Licenses

Three CC License Layers

      Each CC License includes                                                          Image representing the three layers of a CC License

  • the legal code (aka, lawyer speak)
  • commons deeds (aka, every day speak)
  • machine readable version (recognizing the role software plays in sharing, copying, etc.)

 

 

Four CC License Elements

There are four components, or elements, that make up the CC Licenses.

CC License Element for "BY"  = BY, or attribution          CC License Element for "No Derivatives"  = ND, or no derivatives         

CC License Element for "Share Alike" = SA, or share alike         CC License Element for "Non-Commercial" = NC, or non-commercial

Six CC Licenses

The four elements combine into six distinct CC Licenses, which allow you to help users understand the uses you permit for your content. It's important to remember these licenses work in conjunction with copyright law, not as a replacement for it.

        CC-BY License        CC-BY-SA License         CC-BY-SA License       

        CC-BY-NC-SA License        CC-BY-ND License         CC-BY-NC-ND License

Two Public Domain Tools

Creative Commons provides two public domain tools. One allows for creators to dedicate their content to the public domain (CC0) and the other allows for content known to be free of copyright restrictions to be marked as part of the public domain. In either case, no one is claiming copyright over the content. View the public domain tools here.

        Public Domain Tool CC0        Public Domain Mark of No Known Copyright

Exceptions & Limitations

The CC Licenses do not remove, limit, or otherwise change exceptions and limitations to copyright. This includes fair use, fair dealing, or provisions for people with disabilities. If your use of CC Licensed content would be allowed because of an exception or limitation you do not need to comply with its terms and conditions. For more visit creativecommons.org/faq.

Why the CC Licenses Matter

CC Licenses can help you, as a content creator, share how you are comfortable with your work being used. This is particularly important for sharing educational materials openly.