Creative Commons Licences
What are Creative Commons licences?
What are Creative Commons licences?
Creative Commons are prefabricated licence agreements (model contracts) for the use of creative and scientific materials such as writings and images by others than the actual authors. They are intended to ensure that the authors retain full control over the rights granted. They can be used free of charge and can be incorporated into electronic documents in a machine-readable form. The different licences directly indicate how and with what restrictions the materials may be used. They take up the different aspects of copyright law and thus enable a tailor-made selection.
BY = Attribution
SA = Share Alike: Sharing under the same conditions
NC = Non-Commercial: no commercial use
ND = No Derivatives: no adaptation
The individual aspects can be combined. The following licence models are possible:
CC 0 Public domain, materials may be used freely and without further conditions.
CC BY Attribution to the author, sharing, modification and commercial use permitted.
CC BY SA Attribution, republication under the same conditions, sharing, modification and commercial use permitted.
CC BY NC Attribution, no commercial use, sharing and modification permitted
CC BY NC SA Attribution, no commercial use, republication under the same conditions, sharing and modification permitted
CC BY ND Attribution, no derivative works allowed, sharing and commercial use permitted
CC BY NC ND Attribution, no commercial use, no adaptation allowed, sharing allowed
How do I use a CC licence?
The use is uncomplicated. Simply place the appropriate licence pictogram on the title page or in the footer of publications and include a link to the licence text.
Version 4.0 of the licences is currently available. Only two of the licences are recommended as Open Access compatible: CC BY and CC BY SA.
CC licences can only be granted if the publication is not subject to any other rights of use (for example, under a publishing agreement). Once a licence has been granted, it cannot be changed and its term of validity is determined by copyright law.
Further information can be found here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en
The Practical Guide to the Use of Creative Commons Licences and the FAQ collection of Creative Commons are also helpful.
The Licence Chooser offers support in choosing the right licence.
A good guide has been compiled by the European Commission: