Creative Commons licenses provide a possible alternative to traditional copyright by allowing creators to choose how their works can be shared and used without permission. The Creative Commons organization has developed several types of licenses that allow reuse of content subject to certain conditions like requiring attribution, sharing modifications, or prohibiting commercial use. These licenses are free to use and provide flexibility between fully open and strictly restricted terms of use. They do not replace copyright but build upon it to enable greater sharing of creative works.

1. A Workable Alternative
To Copyright?
2014-11-17 This work was created by Caroline N. Rowan and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike License. To view a copy of the license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

2. Copyright: the exclusive right to
produce copies and to control an
original literary, musical, or artistic
work, granted by law for a
specified number of years.
Collins Online Dictionary
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/copyright?showCookieP
olicy=true

3. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS ACT, 2000
S.I. 28 of 2000
• 17.—(1) Copyright is a property right whereby, subject to this Act, the owner of the
copyright in any work may undertake or authorise other persons in relation to that
work to undertake certain acts in the State, being acts which are designated by this Act
as acts restricted by copyright in a work of that description.
(2) Copyright subsists, in accordance with this Act, in—
(a) original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works,
(b) sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programmes,
(c) the typographical arrangement of published editions, and
(d) original databases.

4. Copyright:
• Requires explicit prior permission from the copyright owner to
use, amend, adapt, copy or distribute the copyright work.
• Is an automatic right and does not have to be registered.
• Covers only the expression of an idea, not the idea itself.
• Copyright of work produced while working for an employer
belongs to the employer, unless otherwise provided for in a
contract of employment.

5. Why look for an alternative to copyright?
Collaboration/information sharing
Encourage creativity
Build a personal profile – artists/writers etc.
Altruism

7. CREATIVE COMMONS
Creative Commons is a non-profit
organisation that enables the sharing and
use of creativity and knowledge through
free legal tools.
https://creativecommons.org/about

8. CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCES
Creative Commons have created
several licences which may be used
free of charge by the public.
These licences permit:
• use of copyright material
• without prior explicit permission
• subject to the conditions of the
licence.

9. Creative Commons licences
do not replace copyright,
but are based upon it.

10. Author/Creator – the individual/entity which created the
content in the first instance.
Licensor – the person/entity granting permission to use the
created content. Licensor is not necessarily the creator of the
content, as Creative Commons licences can facilitate third
party licensing of content.
Licensee – the person/entity to whom permission to use
material is granted.

11. Creative Commons licences
6 types:
1. Attribution CC BY
2. Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA
3. Attribution-NoDerivs CC BY-ND
4. Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC
5. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA
6. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND

12. Attribution
CC-BY
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak Y
Can distribute Y
Can build upon Y
Can be used commercially Y
Same licence terms required for any new work N

13. Attribution-
ShareAlike
CC-BY-SA
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak Y
Can distribute Y
Can build upon Y
Can be used commercially Y
Same licence terms required for any new work Y

14. Attribution-
NoDerivs
CC-BY-ND
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak N
Can distribute Y
Can build upon N
Can be used commercially Y
Same licence terms required for any new work N/A

15. Attribution-
NonCommercial
CC-BY-SA
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak Y
Can distribute Y
Can build upon Y
Can be used commercially N
Same licence terms required for any new work N

16. Attribution-
NonCommercial-
ShareAlike
CC-BY-NC-SA
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak Y
Can distribute Y
Can build upon Y
Can be used commercially N
Same licence terms required for any new work Y

17. Attribution-
NonCommercial-
NoDerivs
CC-BY-NC-ND
Attribution required Y
Can edit/remix/tweak N
Can distribute Y
Can build upon N
Can be used commercially N
Same licence terms required for any new work N/A

18. All Creative Commons licenses require
licensees to:
Credit the licensor
Keep copyright notices intact on all copies of the work
Link to the licence from copies of the work.

19. Licensees cannot use technological measures
to restrict access to the work by others.

20. Applying a Creative Commons licence
http://creativecommons.org/choose/

21. A few things to think about
• Are there multiple elements which need to be licensed?
• Does copyright legislation actually apply to the material?
• Is anything in your material subject to licence from someone else?
• Could the copyright belong to your employer?
NB: Creative Commons licences cannot be revoked, even if you later delete
content or stop distributing the work in question.

22. Useful links
http://creativecommons.org/
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/creativecommons/Creative-
Commons-Ireland-summary.pdf
https://wiki.creativecommons.org/Ireland
UCC Law Department is the Irish Partner for Creative Commons
Licence. Dr. Darius Whelan and Dr. Louise Crowley are the key
contacts.

23. Any
questions?
Caroline N Rowan
caroline.rowan.library@gmail.com