Creative Commons Basics: Anatomy of a Creative Commons License
CC is Copyright
A Creative Commons License is a Copyright License
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CC licenses apply where copyright is applied
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They apply only where copyright is applied, and they do not affect exceptions to copyright law such as Fair Use and Public Domain
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Other restrictions, such as patent and trademark, are not covered under Creative Commons licensing and must be addressed through other avenues
But do they stand up in court?
To date, and to the knowledge of Creative Commons, "no court around the world that has heard a case involving a CC license (of which there have been very few) has questioned the validity or enforceability of a CC license. Thanks to the CC community, most disputes connected to CC licenses are resolved outside of court and often without involving lawyers."
Creative Commons. Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians, and Open Culture. https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/chapter/3-4-license-enforceability/
4 license elements
Four License Elements
Attribution or "BY" - attribution is given to the creator. This is part of all CC licenses.
ShareAlike or "SA" – requires that all derivatives of the work have the same license as the original
NoDerivatives or "ND" - means that users cannot share derivatives of the work
NonCommercial or "NC" - means that users cannot use the work for purposes of commercial gain
These four license elements are combined to create six licenses. All licenses require attribution (BY). Beyond that, they are distinguished by whether they allow the creation of derivative works, and whether the works can be used for commercial purposes
Note that the determination of "commercial" relies on the use of the work, not on the user of the work.
6 licenses
Six Creative Commons Licenses
CC BY – Attribution – allows people to use and share work however they like as long as they give attribution to the original creator.
CC BY-SA - Attribution, ShareAlike – allows people to use and share work with attribution and with the same license as the original.
CC BY-ND – Attribution, NoDerivatives – allows people to use work as they wish, but they may not share derivative work with others.
CC BY-NC – Attribution, NonCommercial – allows people to use work as they wish and share it with attribution, if it is for noncommercial purposes.
CC BY-NC-SA – Attribution, NonCommercial, ShareAlike – allows people to use work and share it with attribution, if it is for noncommercial purposes and the license is the same as for the original.
CC BY-NC-ND – Attribution, NonCommercial, NoDerivatives – allows people to use work, but they may not distribute derivatives, and they may not use it for commercial purposes.
Three Layers of a CC License
Three Layers of a CC License
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Legal Code
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The lawyer-speak of the license (example)
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Human Readable
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The license in easily understandable language (example: This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Machine Readable
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The license in a simple code that can be understood by applications, search engines, and other technology. (example:
<p xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" >This work is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="display:inline-block;">CC BY-SA 4.0<img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/cc.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/by.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/sa.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""></a></p>)
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Public Domain
Public Domain Tools
In addition to the CC license suite, Creative Commons also offers two public domain tools. These tools are not equivalent to licenses.
CC0 (read "CC Zero") enables creators to put their work into the public domain, waiving all their rights, and allowing others to use the work without restriction.
Public Domain label that is used to mark works that have no known copyright restrictions. The label has no legal effect on a work and is used to inform the public about the public domain status of the work.
Disclaimer
The information on this site is not legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only.
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0
