For academics or writers wanting to publish work on the internet with some copyright protection but perhaps with more flexibility than traditional copyright law.
For academics or instructors wanting to adapt a certain work but not start from scratch, as allowed by the creative commons license.
The Creative Commons License Options
There are six different license types, listed from most to least permissive here:
CC BY includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
CC BY-SA includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
SA – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
It includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
SA – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
CC BY-ND includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication
CC0 (aka CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.
For more information visit the Creative Commons website below.