This is part 4 of a four-part series.
Creative Commons
In our previous three articles on copyright basics, we mentioned four categories that allow us to evaluate the need for copyright clearance. We covered in detail three of those categories: fair use, public domain, and works belonging to a third party requiring permission. In this article we will discuss the fourth category, Creative Commons (CC).
Creative Commons provides free, easy-to-use copyright licenses to make a simple and standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work on conditions of your choice.
There is a common misconception that works dedicated through a Creative Commons license are either fair use or public domain works. They fall into neither category. Many incorrectly assume that any CC symbol attached to a work means that it may be used in any manner that suits their purpose. Such uses can have legal repercussions.
The Nature of Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation that has released to the public six open licenses. These licenses offer creators a means to share their works without requiring a formal permissions request for each use. The important thing to remember about CC licenses is that they in no way place the work in the public domain or create a fair use. They are legal licenses to use copyrighted works, each with restrictions on the use permitted. Failure to abide by the restrictions and conditions of the license could void the license and make the use infringement.
It is very difficult to explain the six CC licenses without using some of the language, symbols and abbreviations that Creative Commons uses to describe them. Fortunately, we may use their own language because they have granted the broadest, least restrictive license (CC BY 4.0) to the content on their website. This CC BY 4.0 license permits us to freely use materials found on the Creative Commons web site to illustrate how CC licenses work.
How a CC license works
The narrative that follows exercises a CC BY 4.0 license granted to content from the Creative Commons website. We have implemented some of the rights conveyed and complied with the terms of the license. Some Creative Commons content is directly quoted and some has been adapted. Additional permission was obtained to use the graphic representations shown below.
This CC BY 4.0 license conveys the following rights:
You are free to:
- Share— copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt— remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. (Source: CC BY 4.0 license)
The CC BY 4.0 license also stipulates the following terms:
- Attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions— You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
(Source: CC BY 4.0 license)
Here is a description of our compliance with the terms of the license:
Attribution –
- We acknowledge that materials are being shared and adapted from the Creative Commons website.
- We have linked to the CC BY 4.0 license that permits the use of CC content.
- We have quoted and adapted some CC content to fit the purposes of this article.
No additional restrictions –
We do not claim copyright or apply restrictions to any content that has been quoted or adapted from the Creative Commons website.
Creative Commons Licenses
Each Creative Commons license has three “layers” or versions – legal code, human-readable, and machine-readable. We will attempt a simple explanation of the “human-readable” version.
Each Creative Commons license is represented by a symbol, a common language description, and a legal license. The legal license specifies the non-exclusive rights being conveyed by the licensor and the terms and conditions the user agrees to accept if they use the content.
The six CC licenses are a combination of four sets of conditions that are applied to the use of the copyrighted content covered in a license.
Attribution (BY) – You must give appropriate credit to the creator of the content being licensed.
ShareAlike (SA) – You may copy, distribute and modify the content as long as you allow others to do the same with your modified work on the same terms.
NonCommercial (NC) – You may not use the content under the license for commercial purposes.
NoDerivative (ND) – You may copy and distribute only the original: you may not modify it.
The abbreviations and symbols representing each of the six licenses are listed below, starting with the one with the broadest rights and fewest terms and conditions. Click on the abbreviation below, such as CC BY, to link to the human-readable summary of that license on the CC website. On this web page, there is a link to the legal code behind the license.
CC BY – Attribution
CC BY-SA – Attribution & ShareAlike
CC BY-ND – Attribution & NoDerivatives
CC BY-NC – Attribution & NonCommercial
CC BY NC SA – Attribution & NonCommercial & ShareAlike
CC BY NC ND – Attribution & NonCommercial & NoDerivatives
Cautions
CC licenses are not simple. The legal code in the actual licenses can be cumbersome for both the creator of the original work and the user who wants to reuse it. It is easy to find the actual legal code for the license, if you know where to look.
Creative Commons is not a party to its licenses. It “gives no warranties regarding its licenses, any material licensed under their terms and conditions, or any related information. Creative Commons disclaims all liability for damages resulting from their use to the fullest extent possible.” (Source: CC BY 4.0 legal code)
Due diligence is required to reuse CC licenses content. Anyone can apply a CC license to any content. The creator who places content under a CC license has full responsibility for abiding by the terms and conditions of the license. If you want to reuse content that someone put under a CC license, you should check if that person inadvertently or intentionally included any third-party content that may be under copyright protection by the third party.
There is no registration mechanism associated with CC licenses, therefore no centralized way to determine what has been placed under the terms of a CC license. Creative Commons does provide a search portal that links to various search engines. One of the search engines the portal connects with is Wikimedia Commons, which has a collection of almost 53 million files that anyone may use. The items in this collection may include verification of the CC license and terms.
Conclusions
Creative Commons is a good option for anyone who wishes to freely give unmonitored open access to something they have created and does not want to be bothered with granting permission each time someone wants to use it.
Creative Commons licenses provide easy access to a treasure trove of images and other content that may freely be used, often with attribution to the original creator being the only requirement. However, a clear understanding of each CC license and due diligence in determining ownership is advisable.
