This document provides information about copyright and Creative Commons licenses. It explains that copyright protects original creative works and gives owners exclusive rights over reproduction and distribution. To qualify for protection, a work must be fixed and original. Creative Commons licenses provide standardized ways for creators to grant some rights to the public while retaining others. There are several types of CC licenses that determine whether adaptations can be commercial and if derivatives require the same license. CC0 dedicates works to the public domain with no conditions.
2. Copyright
• Copyright is a legal concept which grants creators (authors, musicians, artists
and other creators) the rights of ownership and protection against
unauthorized uses of their works for a fixed period.
• To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be both fixed and original.
The Copyright Act gives copyright owners five exclusive rights.
(1) only the copyright owner may reproduce or make copies of the work;
(2) only the copyright owner may prepare adaptations of the work, such as
translating a novel into another language or adapting the novel into a
screenplay;
(3) only the copyright owner may distribute copies of the work to the public;
(4) only the copyright owner may perform the work in public; and
(5) only the copyright owner may display the work in public.
3. • Copyright only protects the words, notes, or images that the creator
has used. It does not protect any ideas or concepts revealed by the
work.
for example, a scientist publishes an article explaining a new process
for refining oil, the copyright prevents others from copying the words
of that article. It does not, however, prevent anyone else from using
the process described to refine oil. To protect the process, the
scientist must obtain a patent.
• Copyright law is the legal foundation protecting the work of many
major industries, including book publishing, motion-picture
production, music recording, and computer software development.
4. Creative Commons License
• Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual
creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the
public permission to use their creative work under copyright
law.
• The Creative Commons licenses have become the de-
facto international standard for open licensing of
creative works.
5. License types
There are 6 different types of creative common licenses
1. CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix,
……/…… adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or
format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license
allows for commercial use.
CC BY includes the following elements:
BY - This means that, Credit must be given to the creator
6. 2 . CC BY-SA
• This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and
build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as
attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for
commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the
material, you must license the modified material under
identical terms.
CC BY-SA includes the following elements;
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
SA - This means that Adaptations must be shared under the ,
same terms
7. 3. N CC BY-NC
• This license allows reuse's to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon
the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes
only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
The elements in this license are
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
NC - This means Only noncommercial uses of the work are
permitted
8. 4. CC BY-NC-SA
• This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon
the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes
only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you
remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the
modified material under identical terms.
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
9. 5. CC BY-ND
• This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any
medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as
attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial
use.
CC BY-ND includes the following elements:
BY - Credit must be given to the creator
ND - This sign means that no derivatives or adaptations of the
work are permitted
10. 6. CC BY-NC-ND
• This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any
medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial
purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
This license 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
11. CC0 - The Creative Commons Public
Domain Dedication
• This 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.
• Below is a table summarizing the CC licenses
12. References
BBC. (2020). Copyright Aware. BBC.com.
Creative Commons Corporation. (2021). About CC Licenses. Creative Commons Corporation.
Guinness, H. (2017). What Are Creative Commons Licenses? HARRY GUINNESS.
Southern Illinois University. (2021). PURPOSE OF COPYRIGHT LAW. Southern Illinois University.
Staelens, J. (2019). Creative common licenses. Legalstart.
U.S. Copyright Office. (2018). What is Copyright? Washington, D.C.: Copyright.gov.