Creative Commons is a licensing setup which allows creators to release their material on the Internet. Such material can include: articles, books, photos, music and film. Others may use this material under a range of conditions depending on the CC licence (see below). For example, there are 100s of sites of the web containing Creative Commons music and images.
Creative Commons and Creative Commons Australia: There are various kinds of Creative Commons licences that places different levels of restrictions on how you can use the specific material. Make sure you know which specific licence you are operating under.
Using Creative Commons Material
You do not have to pay to use Creative Commons material. Furthermore, as long as you source materials with particular CC licences, there are few restrictions on how you can use this material. For example, you can use CC material with an attribution only licence in whatever manner you choose as long as you reference it.
You can source CC material simply by including “Creative Commons” in your Google search or by specifying the type of Creative Commons licensed material you are searching for in the drop down box of the “Usage Rights” section of an advanced Google search.
CC material is particularly useful when you are producing material you are:
thinking of commercialising
distributing to people
putting material on the internet
Putting a Creative Commons Licence on Your Own Material
If you are considering putting a Creative Commons (CC) licence on material, you must firstly be sure that you own the Copyright in that material.
Does a CC licence affect your Copyright ownership?
No. If you own copyright in material you (for example put on the internet) and you add a CC licence to it, you will still own the copyright.
However, a CC license cannot be revoked and it is likely to:
restrict future publication of your material (as taking out a CC license on the research material would make it ineligible for many publishing agreements)
prevent any possible future commercial gain for yourself from your material. (This would include any royalties from CAL (Copyright Agency Limited). CAL sometimes distributes royalties to authors when their material is reproduced by Australian Educational and other Institutions for teaching purposes. A CC license on your material makes you ineligible for such payments.)
The Creative Commons website has a more detailed description of each of the CC licences and the uses they permit. Below is a summary of each licence and the two badges CC makes available to represent each of them.
Attribution (CC BY): The Attribution licence allows others to copy, distribute and remix the material in any medium or format, even commercially, as long as the creator is attributed. Sometimes called the Attribution Only licence, this licence option is the most open of the CC licences.
Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): This license others to copy, distribute and remix the material in any medium or format, even commercially, as long as the creator is attributed. It has the additional requirement that, where a user makes a derivative of the material, the derivative must be released under the same type of licence. The ShareAlike element in the CC licences is designed to ensure downstream use of the material even if derivatives of the original material have been made.
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): The Attribution-NonCommercial license is similar to the Attribution licence, except it does not permit commercial uses. Under the CC BY-NC licence others can copy, distribute and remix the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, as long as the creator is attributed.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): This licence is similar to the Attribution-ShareAlike, but limits reuse to noncommercial purposes only. Others can distribute and remix the material in any medium or format as long as the creator is attributed and any derivative of the original material is released under the same type of licence.
Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND): The Attribution-NoDerivatives licence allows others to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format, even commercially, as long as the material is not adapted and the creator is attributed.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND): The Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives is similar to the Attribution-NoDerivatives, except it does not permit commercial uses. Under the CC BY-NC-ND licence others can copy and distribute the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, as long as the material is not adapted and the creator is attributed.
