Copyright Guide: Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization which aims to expand the universe of work legally available to be built upon and shared. The organization has created several types of copyright licenses to be freely used by the public, which allow creators to clearly communicate which rights they retain, and which rights they waive.

Types of Creative Commons Licenses:

• No Rights Reserved (CC0)
• Effectively places the work in the public domain
• Attribution (CC BY)
• User must attribute the original creator
• Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA)
• User must attribute the original creator and share the resulting work by the same license
• Attribution No Derivatives (CC BY-ND)
• User must attribute the original creator and may not make derivative works
• Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)
• User must attribute the original creator and may not use the work for commercial uses
• Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA)
• User must attribute the original creator, may not use the work for commercial uses and must share the resulting work by the same license
• Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)
• User must attribute the original creator, may not use the work for commercial uses and may not make derivative works

General search for Creative Commons-licensed materials

7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons from Educause (PDF)